A New Quest
by I am Lyon
Summary: 10 years after the Second Breaking, Nynaeve discovers Egwene was murdered. If you are going to read it, REVIEW! I will discontinue this fic if people dont review. Part of Chapter 9 is up~! Please read the authors note in chapter 1, 9: its important!!!
1. Chapter 1

OK, I am hopeless at humor, so I am going to start a fic that is one of those good action ones, so check it out! I have read up to about 120 pages in Lord of Chaos, so some things are not acurate to the end of the story as you may know it, but I know a few things in advance because my bro spoiled stuff. PLEASE REVIEW!! Also, my goal in life is to be in an insane asylum by age 80 because im afraid flying flaming squirrels are trying to eat me and stop me from going to the bathroom. In case you haven't noticed, I am a wierd person and proud of it. Lol, to be honest, I am probably the wierdest person you'll ever know because I talk and act insanely, and actually write decent, good stories. 000EJ, Liscense to HEAL! (my motto after I became Aes Sedai of the Yellow Ajah)  
^(triple-oh EE JAY)^  
  
^.^ Disclaimer: I own nothing. Go ahead, call your lawyer. ^.^  
  
*****IMPORTANT NOTE: In every fic I write, I have one line that does not fit the idea/mood/theme/whatever of the fic. That is just something I do, so don't flame for it. I guess you could call it my trademark (that or an idiocincracy).*****  
  
A NEW QUEST: Chapter 1  
  
  
Nynaeve adjusted the shawl around her shoulders, fingering the yellow fringe. She sighed, knowing that in just a moment she would have to face the Amyrlin. Being a full Aes Sedai after the second Breaking of the World was nothing like before. Full sisters were much more powerful now, and saidin was untainted. Brothers of saidin were very powerful, as well, but now neither had an advantage over the other. She loved the power that she now so openly held, yet hated it all the same.  
  
"Nynaeve Sedai?" a novice in a pure white dress asked timidly, dropping a curtsy. "The Amyrlin Seat will see you now."  
  
Nynave sighed and stood, following the girl down the hallway. The Combined Towers were built after the Second Breaking, and were home to both male and female Aes Sedai. The female side of the large tower with two tops was comfortable and large, but Nynaeve felt suddenly cooped up and small. Every time she thought of the Amyrlin, her thoughts drifted to Egwene.... Tears filled the Aes Sedai's eyes. Quickly, she wiped them away and put her head into the air.  
  
The girl was hardly a woman when she had died. Died from something even Nynaeve could not Heal. Seeing her face in that last moment while she held Gawyn's hand.... That was the worst part. The face that never quite abandoned it's youth, with a look of pain and love to deep to comprehend.... Gawyn had never been the same afterwards, even now, three years later. He had been her Warder and husband, and could not stop thinking of her night and day.   
  
The novice glanced over her shoulder and nearly tripped. Nynaeve scowled and told her to be more careful. Clumsy fool! Tripping over nothing. But she couldn't see the cold, angry fire burning beneath her eyes.  
  
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Myrelle was dead. Moiraine was dead. Nynaeve was all Lan had left now, since his war was no longer in existance. After the Second Breaking, all the Trollocs and Halfmen were gone, and he had nothing to fight. Numbly he climbed the steps to the entrance of the Combined Towers, hoping to find Nynaeve. He dreaded it as much as he wished he could find her; surely by now she had a Warder and had forgotten him. As he entered, a frightened novice and a dark haired, yellow-shawled Aes Sedai passed him. He could not see her face, but he had a feeling the woman wasnt happy.  
  
He continued walking until something seemed to hit him. That dark, plaited hair, clung tightly in her wrist? Nynaeve!   
  
He ran back toward the entrance and further, knocking an idle servant down on his way. "Nynaeve!" The dark haired Aes Sedai turned and gasped.  
  
"Lan!" Her face was so different, yet it could be none but her. He had not seen her in ten years, since Egwene died from that odd illness. But she had not been Aes Sedai then, and now she had that cool agelessness about her that made him shudder.  
  
"Lan, what are you doing here? Where is Myrelle? Oh, Lan... she isn't.... dead, is she?"  
  
Lan nodded. Nynaeve put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry."  
  
He took her hand and said, "You have a Warder?"  
  
She shook her head. "You... don't? Really?" Two years Aes Sedai, and she didn't have a Warder?  
  
The novice cleared her throat. "Nynaeve Sedai, Lan Gaidin, the Amyrlin is waiting."  
  
Nynaeve looked startled for a second, then nodded. Taking her hand from Lan's, she murmured, "Wait for me? We will talk."  
  
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Mayodin paced his chambers intently. All those years he had hidden because he could reach into saidin, and now he was to be trained. He had on the black pants and shirt of a male novice, though he was one of few. He shook his head as he looked down. He hated the garments, as he hated the Combined Towers. After the Second Breaking, many things had happened, including the Great Lord's death.  
  
Not having anyone to swear to, and not wanting to turn back to the Light, he simply hated all things that were. No more Trollocs, or Halfmen, or anything to command. He had been high on the Council of Darkfriends, and now had nowhere to go but this lousy tower. An Accepted poked her head in. There was only three male Accepted right now.  
  
"Mayodin? You have been summoned to come to the Amyrlin."  
  
Mayodin bowed and followed, while thoughts raced through his head. Why? Had they discovered who he had been? What was going to happen? The male Amyrlin was not yet established, as there were not many men at the Towers. Ten years after the Second Breaking, eight since the Towers were built, five since all the Darkfriends but he had died or turned to the Light, and three since the Amyrlin -Egwene, was it?- had died.  
  
Also, all that talk about "soldiers" and "dedicated" and whatnot had caused quite an uproar, and Mayodin was on the wrong side throughout the entire ordeal. Many believed Rand al'Thor's ideas about saidin should stay, but the majority of the women decided if there were going to be males Aes Sedai, they should be Aes Sedai to represent unity in the Towers. Mayodin had been a major supporter of keeping the Dragon Reborn's ideas, and had, slipping back into his Darkfriend ways, killed a sister who disagreed passionatley with him. Had they found out?  
  
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Nynaeve curtsied deeply, staying in the stance until the Amyrlin commanded her to rise. Dekina Sedai had been a Green before being raised, and was a powerful, wise leader. Nynaeve respected her, and her Warder, Homwen Gaidin. Homwen refused to leave Dekina's side, and Nynaeve doubted whether any but Lan could best him with a sword.  
  
"WAAAASSSSSSUUUUUUUUP?!?!?!?" Nynaeve bellowed, doing the disco to some unheard tune.  
  
"Daughter, do you know why I have called you?" the Aes Sedai asked in a gentle yet firm voice.  
  
"No, Mother."  
  
"Then you shall. In a moment a novice will be here, one with phenomenal abilities. He-" Nynaeve tensed; male?- "is younger than you by quite a few years, but he has a block much like your own was. Since you have overcome that block and risen to the power you hold now, I thought you would be an ideal teacher."  
  
"As you command, Mother, so shall it be," Nynaeve replied in a tight voice.  
  
"Ah, my daughter, but there is more. He is suspected as a Darkfriend. You used to hunt the Black Ajah, so it makes sense that you should be his teacher and keep an eye on him. I will not make you do this if you disagree, Nynaeve."  
  
"I... I will, Mother. Wha-" Whatever she had been about to say was cut off as a knock sounded at the door.   
  
"Come in," Dekina commanded. A young man in novice's black entered the room and bowed low. His dark brown hair was cut short and was combed neatly. He was probably twenty years younger than Nynaeve, though none could tell if they looked at them in comparison due to Aes Sedai agelessness. In truth, Nynaeve was almost forty years old.  
  
"Rise, my son." The man rose. His eyes were surprisingly light blue, an extreme contrast to his nearly black hair. "Mayodin, this is Nynaeve Sedai of the Yellow Ajah. I am sure you have heard of her; she is well known as the best Healer since the Age of Legends. She is to instruct you on how to get over the block that keeps you from saidin."  
  
"As you command, Mother, so shall it be," came the cool reply.  
  
Nynaeve looked at Dekina, and asked, "May I speak, Mother?" She almost grimaced at her tone. She hated being humble. After the Amyrlin's nod, Nynaeve turned back to the novice. "Mayodin? As your instructer, I expect you to follow what I say and do what I ask."  
  
"Yes, Nynaeve Sedai," he answered. His voice was humble, but he was obviously was not used to and could not like being commanded like she had. She almost grinned. This would be fun!   
  
"You may go, now, children," Dekina announced.  
  
They bowed and curtsied appropriately, and left the chambers. After they left, Nynaeve turned to Mayodin. "We shall begin tomorrow. I have... other buisness to attend to today. Report to me at lunch, I shall be in the cafeteria eating at a table in the far right. I expect to meet you precisely at noon."  
  
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Lan stood waiting as Nynaeve rounded the corner. She smiled and motioned him to follow her. Without saying a word he fell in step behind her. His graceful, deadly prowl had not worn off after Myrelle died; rather he was so used to it for 30 years that nothing changed. He felt the effects of having to eat and rest though, and that had been a hard change. After 30 years of being half mortal, it was hard to get used to being normal. At last Nynaeve stopped and opened a door to a common room empty of people. Nodding to herself, she entered, Lan following only a half step behind.  
  
For a moment after he had shut the door, the pair stood and looked at each other. Nynaeve unconsciously looked down and smoothed her skirts with one hand, the other tugging her braid. When she looked up, it was into Lan's face. They shared a kiss before either said a thing.  
  
"Why did you come to me?" Nynaeve asked quitely, resmoothing her skirts. "Why not go and reestablish Malkier? You know you could. People would rally to the Golden Crane without pause."  
  
"Because... because.... What man would rather be a king than have the woman he loves?"  
  
Nynaeve was silent. To herself, she muttered, "Wisdoms harldy ever marry." Her cheeks brightened. "I thought we agreed that last day I saw you when... when Egwene was still alive... that we would each go our own ways."  
  
"Myrelle is dead, Nynaeve. I have nothing to live for but you. Please...."  
  
"Will you be my Warder, Lan?" There. She had done it. Quitely, timidly, yes, but she had. She could not stand to see him so helpless, and she wanted a Warder. She wanted Lan, too.  
  
"Yes, of course! Light, but I was afraid... oh well. I..." he trailed off, as though unsure what he was going to say. She had never seen him show so much emotion before, exept maybe once. And now she felt so happy that he would be hers forever. She took his head and began the Flows that would bond him to her.  
  
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Elayne looked up in surprise as a gateway opened and Nynaeve stepped through, followed closely by Lan. The feel of saidar left as soon as the gateway closed. "Nynaeve! Lan! What are you doing here?!" She looked curiously at Lan, as though directing the last statement toward him.  
  
The room she was standing in was very odd indeed. It was filled with many small objects of all different shapes and sizes, each sorted and with a label. Ter'angreal, Nynaeve knew. Elayne was famous for making ter'angreal, among other things. The Queen was the first person after the Second Breaking to get a nation together. She called it Andor, of course, though it was not at all like the old Andor.  
  
Nynaeve smiled and hugged the Green sister. Birgitte slipped from the shadows with that deadly grace that all Warders had and gave her a hug as well. Lan nodded to both, his light blue gaze as expressionless as ever.  
  
"Elayne, Birgitte. How good it is to see you! Oh, Elayne, I'm sorry I haven't visited you more often! After... after Egwene, I just couldn't...." She choked and tears filled her eyes. "Burn me, I thought I was over it!" Tears streamed down Elayne's face as well as the Aes Sedai hugged each other and cried. "Three years," Nynaeve sobbed, "and I still cry about her!" When the tears had passed, Elayne wiped her face and grinned weakly.  
  
"Egwene wouldn't want us to cry over her, Nynaeve. She was a heroine, fighting along side Rand and Mat and Perrin, and leading the Aes Sedai back to greatness. Light, but I miss them all! Aviendha... Aviendha is now remembered as a Hero of the Ages, did you know that?" Birgitte smiled sadly in the background. Tel'aran'rhiod had been pleasant for her. "I wonder if we can meet her... and Egwene... in tel'aran'rhiod?"  
  
"You could," Birgitte put in, "but they have to know how to travel around the Unseen World dead as well as alive. They might not know they can meet you, or how. They have been"  
  
Nynaeve nodded, and Elayne brightened as she looked at Lan, as stony-faced as ever. "Well, al'Lan Mandragoran, have you finally given in to Nynaeve?" She grinned and looked at Nynaeve, who grinned back.  
  
"In a way, Elayne, in a way. Myrelle died, so he came to me."  
  
Elayne's grin faded. "Oh. I'm sorry, Lan. I know what it is like to lose one close to you." All Lan did was nod in acknowledgement that she had spoken. "But why didn't you go raise the banner of Malkier? Many would rally to you."  
  
Lan shook his head. "Did you plan this?" Both women grinned and shook their heads. He continued, "What is a king without a queen to keep him in line?"  
  
Elayne gasped. "Are you... did you...?"  
  
Nynaeve smiled, as Lan cleared his throat. "No," she told the Green sister, "we aren't married." She laughed. "Just bonded."   
  
Elayne caught what Lan wasn't meant to (and she was sure he didn't, since he wasn't a woman): that Nynaeve just considered the Bonding as a step towards her higher goal. Elayne suppressed a smile. Who knew? Maybe Nynaeve really would be a queen! Birgitte, apparently, also caught the unsaid words that Nynaeve intended for Elayne only, as she began hacking in what sounded like a change from laughter.  
  
"Are you all right, Birgitte?" Nynaeve asked coolly; her voice seemed to have frost in it. Birgitte coughed louder and nodded. When she finally recovered, she grinned.  
  
"Swallowed wrong," she said, and started all over again. Lan raised his eyebrows, as though he knew what she was doing, but not why, which made Birgitte "cough" louder, and Elayne add her own fits of giggles and Nynaeve hide a grin behind her hand.  
  
"Women," he muttered. All three laughed outright; Birgitte almost fell down from trying to hold onto her sides and a chair at the same time.  
  
When, at last, all three had settled down, Nynaeve jumped suddenly. "Oh! I have to go! I forgot.... I have to teach Mayodin today!"  
  
"Mayodin?" Elayne asked. "Who...?"  
  
"I'll tell you late. Goodbye Elayne, Birgitte." Opening the gateway, she motioned for Lan to go first. After he stepped through and turned to her expectantly, Nynaeve gave both women one more hug, stepped through the hole in reality, and vanished.  
  
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Mayodin looked at the table in the back expectantly. Suddenly, a hole appeared with a man, Nynaeve, and two women he did not recognize on the other side. First came the man- he had to be a Warder, the way he carried himself - and after one moment Nynaeve stepped through and the hole vanished. He blinked in surprise. That was WEIRD. He had heard many things were possible with the Power, but to step across millions of miles? He hurried with his tray to the table.  
  
Nynaeve turned from talking to the Warder in a low voice to smile shortly at Mayodin, who bowed low. The Warder immediatley stepped between the Aes Sedai and the novice, but Nynaeve laid a hand on his shoulder and murmured, "Easy Lan. This is my pupil, Mayodin."  
  
Mayodin couldn't resist. "Nynaeve Sedai, what was that you just did?"  
  
Nynaeve raised her eyebrows and gave the Warder- Lan, was it?- an amused smile. His stoney gaze never left Mayodin, who shivered under that piercing stare. "It is called Travelling, Mayodin. A very advanced use of the Power, and something you will not learn until you are Accepted or even full Aes Sedai. If you can even hold enough of saidin to do it. Very advanced. By the way, Mayodin, this is Lan, my Warder. Lan, this is Mayodin."  
  
Mayodin bowed and murmured, "Lan Gaidin, I wait and serve." He hated saying that. The women novices and Accepted didn't have to say anything to the Warders, but the men did because they also learned the sword under the Warders.  
  
Lan nodded to him. Though he did not show it, Nynaeve was sure he was shocked at least a little. He had not visited the Towers since Myrelle was sent on a mission three years ago to help hunt down the last of the Shadowspawn. After the Last Battle, most of the Green Ajah had been wiped out or had stilled themselves by drawing too much of saidar. All of the ones who had lived through it were sent to destroy the last Trollocs, Myrdraal, Darkhounds, and the lot. Myrelle apparently had died on this mission, though how- surrounded by what, four Warders?- was beyond Nynaeve. The Towers had only recently required the male novices to train.  
  
"Now, Mayodin, tell me how you think of holding saidin." One thing she had learned from Rand was that saidar and saidin were very different.   
  
"I feel I must have it, yet I can't because I don't want to surrender to it."  
  
"Good. Don't surrender. What you must try is ....."  
  
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After being excused, Lan wandered to the other Warders. Many knew him and nodded, some even bowing and murmuring "Dai'shain" as he passed. Many of the Malkieri men had become Warders because there was nothing left after the country fell to the Trollocs. Upon coming to the practice circle, he took off his cloack and unseathed his sword.  
  
Many people had heard rumors of this "Lan". They had heard he was an expert swordsman, probably the best since Rand died. But not many had seen in truth how good he was. Endless drills, stances flowing as fluidly and easily as water. By the time he was done with the normal excersices, he had a large audience.  
  
A young man in Accepted dark blue stepped into the ring, holding up two practice swords. Without a word, Lan tossed his sharp, Heron-branded one to a novice- who stared at it in awe before putting it aside- and caught the practice sword tossed his way.   
  
While he inspected the sword for flaws, he asked casually, "Who are you?"  
  
"I am Mac, Lan Gaidin."  
  
A watcher, probably a novice as the shout came from a band of white-clad, google-eyed girls, yelled, "The best swordsman here, Lan Gaidin, though he would never say to someone's face, yes?." All the girls giggled. "He's beaten all the Warders in one-on-one, save Homwen Gaidin himself."  
  
Lan narrowed his eyes at the handsome, lanky man. Shorter than Lan by a hair, he had black hair, a sharp, hooked nose, and black, tilted eyes. Saldaean. He did seem to hold the sword with a deadly grace and poise to match most Warders.  
  
They squared off, both holding their swords at a perfect angle, with a perfect stance. All the watchers fell silent. The younger man grinned and launched into an attack, which Lan countered cooly and came back with one of his own. The boy was good, but not quite as good as Rand was when he had last taught him. This was easier than he had expected. In his mind, he grinned. He would take it easy, make it look like the other was winning, wear him out. Once he was more tired, his attacks more slow, Lan would still have the energy to give a full-out attack.  
  
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Nynaeve joined the group. Mayodin was nowhere in sight, but she didn't look unpleased. She frowned as she watched Lan fight. He seemed worn out already, but that boy... Mac? She thought that was his name.... Mac didn't seem to be any better than Lan was; she had seen Lan fight, and he could do much better than that. On top of that, she could... sense him. She knew he wasn't tired, and that he had exactly as much energy, if not more, as his opponent.  
  
Suddenly she understood. Smiling to herself, she sat down on a bench with a Brown sister named Chryse. Chryse's Warder nodded to her; she and Chryse had spent a lot of time together studying tel'aran'rhiod and other numerous things, and she knew the Warder well. Chryse herself was absorbed in a book and seemed aware of nothing around her. Feeling a sudden surge of energy from Lan, she looked back at the fight.  
  
Lan had finally done it, tapped into his store of energy once Mac was tired. His practice sword moved in a blurr, and Mac's barely caught it each time until...  
  
THWAP! His sword hit the Accepted's head and the boy buckled. Cheers rose as Lan bent over the black-haired man. With a slightly guilty look in his eyes, he motioned Nynaeve to come. She frowned and walked towards him, and immediatley knew why. Mac was unconscious. Bending over him, she seized his head and Healed, the large lump on his head leaving only blood behind. He stood up, not a bit shakily.  
  
"What... what happened? The world went blank and then......." He caught sight of Nynaeve, and the lightbulb went on. He bowed. "Thankyou, Nynaeve Sedai. I can guess what happened now," he said with a slight grin, then turned to Lan. "Can you teach me what you did, Lan Gaidin? I have never fought someone with such skill."  
  
Lan's stoney face never changed as he eyed the man. "A simple trick. I can teach you. Unless, Nynaeve, we plan to leave the Towers soon?"  
  
She shook her head, and Mac looked at them strangley. "Forgive me, Nynaeve Sedai, Lan Gaidin, but shouldn't you ask Myrelle Sedai?"  
  
"No," Lan said flatly, "I can't. Myrelle is dead. Nynaeve is my Bondholder now."  
  
Mac looked slighlty amused and surprised, but wisely held his toungue and only bowed. Nynaeve didn't blame him, not many knew she had Bonded Lan as her Warder, especially not the Accepted. Many people around the Towers might never know, seeing as so many more people were there. She smiled at the Accepted and told Lan, "I just remembered, I have to talk to Chryse. I'll be back later."  
  
After Lan nodded, she walked back to where Chryse was sitting, still engrossed in her book. "Chryse," she said. The Brown sister continued reading. Nynaeve narrowed her eyes and said more forcefully, "Chryse!" The younger woman never even moved. So instead, Nynaeve channeled and slammed the book shut. Chryse looked up in surprise.  
  
Nynaeve scowled. "You were on page 96," she muttered. Chryse's Warder chuckled, and, upon recieving quite a stare from both Aes Sedai, got up and went out to help teach the gathered male novices sword tricks. "I need to talk to you."  
  
Chryse looked at Nynaeve with her large, cool blue eyes. "What is it?"  
  
"Well, I don't know exactly. But we could start by going to the library." The Brown sister looked regretfully at her book, then nodded and followed Nynaeve to Tar Valon's famous library.  
  
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Chryse opened a book and layed it on the table. Nynaeve sat next to her and looked at the pages with arched eyebrows. The yellow, crinkled look of the book gave truth to the many years it had been around, yet in the back were recent dates and names.  
  
"Taim, Logain, al'Thor... and so it ends. But these are all people who claimed they were- or really were- the Dragon Reborn. I just need Darkfriend listings," Nynaeve insisted. Chryse gave her a look that plainly told her how little she knew.  
  
"Well, you are looking in the back. Darkfriends are in the front."  
  
Nynaeve flipped to the front. At the very beginning were names written in Old Tounge. "How far back does it go?" Nynaeve wondered. She flipped to a random page. "Renora, Bahin, Sammael.... Sammael?! Light, this is old."  
  
Chryse nodded. "During the Age of Legends, the Aes Sedai started this book and kept record in it of all caught and tried Darkfriends. The ancient sisters put a warding on it so it would never crumble or become frail, but that doesn't stop physical signs of aging." The Brown sister sighed. "If only we could still do that." Suddenly she brightened. "I know! I will start to dedicate half my time to re-learning old tricks! Perfect! Now I can....." Her voice trailed off as she saw Nynaeve's flat stare.  
  
"Are you done yet?" the Healer asked, obviously annoyed.  
  
"Actually, I wasn't," Chryse replied, "but we can keep looking."  
  
Nynaeve's smile was not very amused. "Then let's do it."  
  
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Lan came into the library to find Chryse buried in a book as usual and Nynaeve sitting across from the younger sister, slumped over an old, large book. He realized suddenly she was asleep, and snoring, at that, and also that Chryse was oblivious to it all. With a slight smile, he walked to the table and shook Nynaeve awake.  
  
Her eyes opened quickly and she sat up straight, ageless face startled. "What? Where am I? Egwene? Aviendha? Where.... oh." She sat back and sighed. Lan rested a concerned hand on her shoulder. She looked up at him, utterly cool, but he saw a deep sadness in her eyes. "They were so real" was all she said, and tears welled up. She forced her face back to smootheness, but did not say anything for a while. Lan thought that if she did, she would end up crying.  
  
When she had choked down the tears, she stood and shook Chryse's shoulders. The Brown sister looked completely vexed at being startled back into reality. "I am going back to my quarters. Can you keep this book out? I will be back later." Chryse nodded, and Nynaeve and Lan set out. Nynaeve had moved to a different room since she Bonded Lan so he could have the room next to hers. She waved goodnight to Lan, closed the door. She sat down on her bed....  
  
...and cried. They had actually been there. It wasn't just a dream. She had to have been in tel'aran'rhiod. Rand. Egwene. Aviendha. They were all there, and Egwene had been in the Amyrlin's stole and praised her upon becoming a sister. Rand and Aviendha stood together, his arm around her waist. He looked at her half the time, and looked around her the other half.  
  
Finally, she had told him if he had a problem, he could tell everyone.   
  
// He looked startled, then smiled and said, "I keep seeing these shimmers around you, like someone else is here, and I think it is because you have a Warder."  
  
Egwene gasped. "Oh, do you? Do you? Who is it? Oh, tell us, Nynaeve!"  
  
Nynaeve smiled as she replied, "Lan."  
  
"Lan?" Aviendha asked. "But he was Bonded to Myrelle Sedai, I thought."  
  
"Myrelle died."  
  
Egwene's long dress shimmered into a black mourning gown, then back to the Amyrlin's robes.//  
  
Nynaeve smiled. Egwene was remembered as the most successful and strongest Amyrlin ever, and was considered a Hero of the Ages after her courageous fight in the Last Battle and reuniting all of the Aes Sedai. Aviendha had died at Rand's side, channeling and fighting until a Trolloc ran her through with a sharp spear. Rand had thrown himself on the Trolloc and killed it quickly, and killed every other Trolloc with the Power that he could reach. Nynaeve had made a specail point of helping him wipe those vile things out.   
  
She shivered as she thought of Rand. In the last moment, he had finally gone insane, yelling, "ILYENA! Forgive me! Aviendha! FOOOORRRGGIIIIVVVVEEEE MMEEEE!!" and those were the last words out of his mouth as he raced into the heart of Shayol Ghul to kill the Dark One. In the end, Aviendha had been his one true love, Elayne and Min's love had faded. People near Rand said he had been muttering things like, "To die forever....", "Ilyena, why? Forgive me!" and "I must end it!! End it and never come back!" through the whole battle.  
  
Nynaeve wiped her tears away, and pulled out a box from under her bed. It was warded so that if anyone but she touched it their, hands would blister and burn until they took them away. Opening it carefully, she rummaged through the contents. Lan's heavy, golden ring, Elayne's recent letters with specail contents, Egwene's letter that she had written to Nynaeve only hours before her death, still after three years unopened, Aviendha's bracelet. At the bottom was Egwene's Amyrlin stole. The late Amyrlin had made sure it went to no one but Nynaeve or Gawyn. Gawyn couldn't keep it, so Nynaeve had agreed to take it. And, folded in the colorful stoles' depths, was a ring. Carved with only one edge, the ter'angreal had not been used for three years.   
  
Nynaeve and Elayne had agreed that they should leave tel'aran'rhiod to Dreamers, but Nynaeve couldn't resist. Putting the leather cord attatched to the ring around her neck, she lied down and sung softly to herself until sleep overtook her and she entered the World of Dreams.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
She looked around and gasped. The Two Rivers! Emond's Field. She went to Bran al'Vere's inn. Walking around familiar ground, she felt safe and at home.  
  
"Back so soon?" Egwene stood in the doorway. Nynaeve smiled.  
  
"I thought I was here earlier. Lan woke me up." Egwene nodded. "Light, I miss you. All of you. Perrin, Mat, Rand, Aviendha, all of you. Three years! Burn me, why couldn't I Heal you?!" She started to sob.  
  
"Oh," Egwene said. "I was afraid this would happen. Oh well, I have to tell you."  
  
"Tell me what?" Nynaeve growled. "If you knew a way to save you......"  
  
"Nothing of the sort. I went through a ter'angreal doorway once. It told me how I would die. I would be poisoned by a Black sister who would not turn back to the Light after the Last Battle."  
  
"But I could have Healed poison!"  
  
Egwene held up her hands. "It wasn't normal. It... well, I don't know what it was. But it was unHealable unless you knew the cure. Normal Flows couldn't have Healed it, Nynaeve. There was nothing you could have done."  
  
Rand suddenly appeared next to Egwene. "Nynaeve. I have a favor to ask. I don't think anyone ever told Father... Tam... who... what I was. Would you... tell him for me somehow? That I am dead? Also, I talked to Perrin. He asked that you tell Faile he loves her and the twins."  
  
Nynaeve swallowed, then nodded. Rand said his thanks, then disappeared. Egwene spoke. "He will never be Reborn. He is destined to be here forever."  
  
Nynaeve nodded sadly. "He will have to wait a long time to finally rest in peace."  
  
"He bounces between himself and Lews Therin sometimes. Lews Therin was handsome." Egwene blushed and smiled. "You had best be going soon. Visit me more often. When you go to the Two Rivers, tell Mother and Father I love them. Tell Gawyn I am his forever." She vanished.  
  
Nynaeve faded into her real self slowly. When she was fully conscious, she got dressed into a pretty blue silk dress and went to wake Lan. When he had dressed, she opened a gateway. Dawn was just coming in the Two Rivers. Emond's Field. Manetheren. Home.  
  
Already men and women were about, doing their chores. Nynaeve approached slowly. Faile was out with her two children, a widow after Perrin had died.  
  
"Lady Faile," Nynaeve called, with a slight curtsy.   
  
Faile curtsied back, with a startled look on her face. "What brings you to me, Aes Sedai? Lan?!" She peered at Lan's face suspicousley. "It is you."  
  
"I am Nynaeve, Faile. We met once, before I was Aes Sedai."  
  
"Nynaeve? Yes, I suppose it is you." Perrin and Amia looked at Nynaeve with wide eyes.  
  
Perrin, the older twin, said curiously, "You are Aes Sedai? Wow! I never thought I would see a real Aes Sedai."  
  
Faile smiled at her son and ruffled his hair. Turning back to Nynaeve, she asked, "Why have you come home, Nynaeve?"  
  
"Faile, maybe we should talk in private," the Yellow sister suggested softly. The noble considered her with those beautiful slanted eyes, then nodded. "Perrin, Amia, why don't you go play with Mistress Cauthon's children?" Amia whooped and started to run, Perrin close on her heals.  
  
"Mistress Cauthon? Mat married? He never told me." Nynaeve shook her head.  
  
Faile slumped. "Yes, he married. She used to be Empress of the Seanchan, but she gave everything up for him, and they came here to settle down for a while, but the Last Battle came so soon. Perrin and Mat both left five weeks after Lunueve gave birth to her second child, Giana. Giana and Samaor are only a little younger than the twins."  
  
They were at the Manor House. Inside a private room, Nynaeve sat down and explained to Faile about tel'aran'rhiod. "People who have departed this world live there, whether they know it or not, until the Wheel of Time spins them back into the Pattern."  
  
Faile gasped. "You mean... Perrin? My Perrin is there?" Nynaeve nodded. "Can I go there?"  
  
"I did. I met with Rand. He said Perrin told me to tell you he loves you and the twins." Faile started to cry. "Did anyone ever tell Tam about Rand?"  
  
Faile shook her head, and, through sobs, said, "I didn't have the heart to."  
  
"Where is he?"  
  
"Old Tam is in the inn where the Wisdom is taking care of him. He is not going to live much longer, I think." Nynaeve stood. Faile sighed. "I suppose you have to tell him, too?"  
  
"I can Heal him. And I have to tell him." She left. Lan joined her outside the door. Faile still sat and cried.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Tam? It is me, Nynaeve."  
  
"Nynaeve? The old Wisdom? My dear, you look nothing like her." Nynaeve sighed. At least his memories weren't addled.  
  
"I am Aes Sedai, Tam. I can Heal you."  
  
His eyes grew wide. "No," he murmured after a while. Nynaeve was shocked. But the man continued. "Just... take away the pain? It is time I died. Tell me, where is Rand?"  
  
Nynaeve Healed the man enough to take the pain away. His face relaxed. "Rand is... dead. Tam, Rand is dead." Tam's face never changed.  
  
"I thought so. My poor boy. He was destined to it, wasn't he?"  
  
The old fart never ceased to amaze Nynaeve. She blinked and closed her mouth, then nodded. "He was the Dragon Reborn."  
  
Tam looked truly shocked for the first time. "I knew he was destined to be great, but... to die as Dragon Reborn? I knew the Last Battle had been fought, and the Second Breaking had occured- thank the Light Emond's Field is still here!- but... Rand... Dragon Reborn....." Tam shook his head and settled back. "I am weary. Send the Wisdom in again, if you will...." He fell asleep. Just asleep, Nynaeve noted. Not dead.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Faile, I will be back soon. Lan is going to stay here. I have to go back to the Towers to get some things. I won't be long at all."  
  
The Saldeaen gave Nynaeve a funny look. "Tar Valon is very far away. How can you get there and back quickly?"  
  
"Let me show you," the Yellow sister replied. Opening a gateway, she explained, "This is a... fold in reality. On the other side is my room in the Towers."  
  
Faile's wide eyes were amazed. "Can I go with you?"  
  
Nynaeve shrugged. "I don't see why not. Lan, we will only be gone half an hour at the most. Faile, you go first." Faile stepped forward hesitantly. Nynaeve nodded to her, and the woman stepped through and looked behind her.   
  
"I can still see you!" she exclaimed.   
  
The Aes Sedai turned to her Warder. "Stay here, I will return shortly." She vanished through the gap, which vanished as quickly as she.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Faile walked around in circles. Nynaeve watched her with a grin as the other woman gabbed on and on. "Are we really here? This is so amazing. Why are we here?" Nynaeve went to her bed and pulled out her box. She opened it and took out the ring ter'angreal.  
  
Tucking the ring into a pouch which she slung over her shoulder, she told Faile, "Come with me." She opened another gateway and found Elayne sitting on a throne with Birgitte at her side. Faile stepped through and the gateway with room in Tar Valon on the other side winked out of existence. A gasp rose from the audience as Nynaeve strode right to the Queen's side. Elayne stood.  
  
The Green sister gave her and Faile a confused look, which Faile returned in full earnest. "Nynaeve," she said with her hands on her hips, talking through gritted teeth, "I am kind of busy right now."  
  
"I am sorry, Elayne." Another gasp from the nobles. No one called Her Majesty "Elayne" except Birgitte and other royalties. "I need to borrow a ter'angreal. I didn't know you were doing this right now." Elayne's blue eyes narrowed. Faile was standing akwardly at Nynaeve's side, unsure of what to do.   
  
"Birgitte," Elayne called. The Warder was at her side quickly, one hand on her quiver, the other on the silver bow she carried. "Will you take Nynaeve and... Faile?... to my ter'angreal room?"  
  
Birgitte grinned and nodded. Faile smiled at Elayne. They remembered one another from the Stone of Tear. Once they were out of the throne room, Birgitte burst out laughing. "You caused quite an uproar, Nynaeve! Oh, that was funny!"  
  
"Well, I didn't mean to. And if you have a problem with that, then I will shove some nasty concoction down your throat!" Birgitte hid an obvious smile behind her hand and nodded.  
  
"Where is Lan?" she asked.  
  
"Waiting for me and Faile. And the faster we go, the shorter he has to wait."   
  
"Grumpy, grumpy," the blonde haired woman sighed. She laughed and ran ahead as Nynaeve scowled and opened her mouth. Channeling, the Aes Sedai stopped her in her tracks with a wall of Air.   
  
"Anything else, Hero of the Ages?" Nynaeve grimaced. It was her fault- No! It was Moghedien's fault that Birgitte was no longer in tel'aran'rhiod. Birgitte, however, showed no reaction besides laughing harder and giving a strangled "no."  
  
They finally, after much ado, reached the room packed with ter'angreal. Nynaeve followed the labels until she found the one she was looking for. It was a rectangle with a sleeping woman carved on the inside. "Thank you. Tell Elayne I will return it soon." Another gateway opened, and Lan stood on the other side. He blinked and stepped back. Faile went through with no trouble, and Nynaeve grinned at Brigitte. "See you another time."  
  
Both woman and gateway winked away in a second.  
  
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OK, how was it? I hope it wasn't too long for a chapter... You know how I figured out how old Nynaeve would be? In the 4th book, it says Nynaeve is 7 years older than Egwene, and that Rand is 2 years older than Egwene. In the 6th book, Mat is twenty, and Rand and Mat are the same age. If Rand is 20, than Egwene would be 18. 18+7=25. In this fic, the Second breaking was 10 years ago, so she would be 35, but you have to assume that there was a year or two between the Second Breaking and where I am in the 6th book. So 35= let's say 3= 38, or almost 40. So... for the fics purposes, suppose Lan is younger, because in truth he is way old... like 90 or something. Pretend with me he is only... 45. There. I am SMART! WAAAHOOOO! *cough* the insaneness is coming. HIDE!   
  
Heh... heh... I am ok, no matter what you think. Sorry I dont know the "Daughter of the Nine Moons" real name. I just pushed "Lunar" and "nueve" (nine in Spanish) together and got Lunueve. *grins* PLEASE Review!! 


	2. Chapter 2

OK, so chapter one was more of a prolougue... Oh well. There is actually a plot, which is revealed in this chapter, so don't give up on me!  
  
^.^ Disclaimer: I don't own Wheel of Time or Robert Jordan. Imagine that. ^.^  
  
A NEW QUEST: Chapter 2  
  
Waving goodbye to Faile and Lunueve, Nynaeve followed Lan through the gateway. She had spent the last two-weeks home in the two Rivers teaching them how to work in tel'aran'rhiod. She kept the slab of cool stone she herself used to enter the Unseen Worlds so she could talk to Egwene, but gave the other women the stone ring. She had also warned them against entering the World of Dreams too often; who knew what could happen?  
  
Giving Lan a quick kiss goodnight, she changed into a shift and settled into her chair and channeled Flows of Spirit into the ter'angreal.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Egwene stood waiting for Nynaeve in the spot they had arranged. She had on the same as always, her Amyrlin stole and robes. Light, but she missed being alive. It was hard to think of herself as dead, yet she didn't have a heartbeat and didn't need to eat. The Yellow sister faded into her world slowly. She had a misty appearance. Egwene arched her eyebrows.  
  
"Not using the ring?" she asked.  
  
"No, I... gave it to Faile and Lunueve. So they could visit Mat and Perrin occaisionally." Nynaeve bit her lip. She hoped Egwene wouldn't be mad. Egwene tilted her head, then nodded.  
  
"That was kind of you. How is Gawyn?"  
  
"Fine. Egwene, do you know the Darkfriend's name who..... killed you?"   
  
"No. Only that she had a partner in crime, but I don't know his name."  
  
"Do you know if she was ever convicted as a Darkfriend?"  
  
The younger woman shook her head. "No, I know nothing about her, really. Why? Do you know who it is?"  
  
"No. I am hoping to find out soon, though. She can't hide forever, nor can her accomplice. I will find them, Egwene, I promise." Nynaeve scowled at her hand, and a wine goblet appeared there. Taking a huge swig, she muttered, "I promise."  
  
Egwene smiled. "Of course. Did you know I can remember my past lives? Kind of like Lews Therin. Or Rand. Sometimes he isn't either. Watch." A different woman appeared in Egwene's spot. She was tall and had very fair skin. Her eyes were purple- purple, of all colors!- and her hair dark brown. Beautiful, though odd. Her voice was deep and musical. "I am Hulon. A different life." Egwene came back. "I prefer this life. It was the most fulfilling."  
  
Nynaeve shivered. Egwene had millions of different lives, and she didn't remember her alive self as Egwene, really. Egwene was just another life, mingled with all the others. Gawyn, Nynaeve supposed, was the man Egwene was destined to fall in love with every time, though his past lives were as faint and elusive as Nynaeve's.  
  
Egwene continued. "All my lives, I have been raised by innkeepers, then set off to do great things and battle evil. Everytime I fall in love with Gawyn, or, as I remember him in past lives, Sehanir, and Jagear, and Darius. There are many more. He was always a prince overshadowed by a brother. I fell in love with Sehanir as Hulon, and became a Queen. My other lives are much like that."  
  
Nynaeve shivered again. "You," she declared, "are creeping me out. I have to go anyway, so I will see you next time. And I will find out who poisoned you."  
  
"Nynaeve, say hi to Gawyn, OK?"  
  
Nynaeve smiled. "As you command, Mother, so shall it be." Egwene's eyes swelled with tears.   
  
Right before she left, Egwene called to Nynaeve, "In every life, I died young and left my husband without me. Tell him I'm sorry....."  
  
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Nynaeve shivered as she sat up in her chair. Gawyn. She had to find Gawyn and tell him what Egwene had said. As she entered the hallway, she bumped into a novice. The green-eyed girl quickly dropped a curtsy, almost letting go of the sheets she held. Nynaeve stopped as though she had woken out of a daze. Looking at the novice to herself, she muttered, "Bloody tel'aran'rhiod. Doesn't seem to let go of you no matter where you are."  
  
The novice did drop the sheets this time. Scrambling to pick them up, she squeaked, "Sorry, Nynaeve Sedai! Please, don't send me to Ailene Sedai's study! I just came out, and...." She trailed off as though she had just realized what she was doing.  
  
Nynaeve worked very hard to keep her face straight; the girl was a chatter box! "What is your name, child?" It had taken a while to get used to the fact that almost everyone in the Towers knew her name.  
  
"Senaara, Aes Sedai."  
  
"Why are you here, Senaara?"  
  
"Ailene Sedai sent me to the wash rooms because I was..." Her cheeks colored. "Because I was trying to find you to help me, Aes Sedai. I can Heal, Aes Sedai, and I want to learn." Lan ducked into the hall, raising an amused eyebrow at Nynaeve's clothes.  
  
Nynaeve, however, was completely unaware of her looks. Her braid was half undone, and she was only in a lightweight silk nightgown, but she looked at the novice with interest. "Lan," she said absently, "will you find Gawyn? I need to talk to him. Also, relieve this novice of her towels and give them to another by my orders."  
  
Senaara's eyes widened to dinner plates. "Oh, Nynaeve Sedai, you can't... I can't... Ailene Sedai will...." She started to cry.  
  
"Fine, fine, girl. If you have to take the towels to the closet, do it, but do it quickly and come back here," the Yellow said. Senaara gave a wobbly curtsy and ran to do as she was bid. "Lan, go find Gawyn. Have him come here, OK? I am going to change." Her face was still distracted, and she didn't see Lan's slight scowl since she was staring after the novice scurrying down the hall.   
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"WASSSUP?" Nynaeve yelled at the Amyrlin.  
  
"QUE PASAAAAAAA?" came the reply as the Aes Sedai drank some....   
  
coke. FOOLED YA! Or not. I love being wierd.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Senaara's thoughts were clustered. She was about 19, and Nynaeve had been her hero as soon as she had discovered her vast talent for Healing. Three times she had tried to "bump into" the Aes Sedai, but now she did it without trying. And now Nynaeve herself was going to teach her? WOW! Another bonus was that cute male novice, Mayodin, was now working with Nynaeve.   
  
After delivering the towels into the female novice linen closet, the white-clad novice all but ran back to the Aes Sedai's quarters. She knocked timidly on the door. "Come in," came the muffled reply. She opened the door. Nynaeve sat on her bed brushing her hair. She wore green silk. On a cord around her neck was a large, heavy gold ring. Before Senaara had a chance to look at it, Nynaeve followed her gaze and quickly tucked the ring under her dress.  
  
"Aes Sedai, I came as fast as I could," she said, giving her best curtsy.   
  
"I noticed," the Healer muttered. Setting down the hairbrush and began braiding her hair. "Come sit down, child." Senaara sat on the edge of the bed as though any closer to Nynaeve would be a sin. "Now. You say you can Heal. How well?"  
  
"I have Healed bruises and cuts without knowing what I was doing, and under the instruction of a Yellow sister I Healed a broken bone and fever."  
  
"How long have you been here at the Towers?"  
  
"Only six months, Aes Sedai."  
  
Nynaeve was mildly impressed. Of course, she had been able to Heal much more within a few months of training, but only when she could overcome her block, and those incidents were rare back then. However, this girl didn't say that was all she could do.  
  
"Hold saidar, Senaara." A blaze of light surrounded the novice in Nynaeve's eyes. Nynaeve herself opened to saidar and probed the other woman's abilities. "Let it go." She did the same, barely pressing down a sigh of regret. "You do have quite some potential. Show me what you have learned in channeling the True Source."  
  
Senaara drew on saidar again and began making different Flows and weavings to make an arrangment of things.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Lan knocked on the door, Gawyn only a step behind him. "Come in," came the muffled reply. Lan opened the door. Nynaeve sat on the bed with that novice, who looked scared, nervous and tired. Senaara sprang to her feet as the Warder entered.  
  
"Hello, Lan Gaidin, Lord Gawyn. I was just practicing some things with Nynaeve Sedai," she mumbled, looking at the ground.  
  
Nynaeve laughed. "Lan, Gawyn, this is my new pupil, Senaara."  
  
Senaara looked at the Aes Sedai with huge eyes. "OH! Really, Aes Sedai? You are going to teach me?!" Nynaeve nodded her head. The novice was nearly jumping up and down with excitement. "Oh, wow! Oh, you won't regret this, Nynaeve Sedai! Oh...." she blushed as she realized what she was doing.  
  
Gawyn turned to Nynaeve. "You wanted to see me, Nynaeve?"  
  
The Yellow nodded. "Hang on, Gawyn. Senaara, go to Ailene and tell her I sent you to become Accepted. You have enough ability and skill to be raised."  
  
Senaara almost fainted. "Th-th-thank you, Aes Sedai!" Dropping a curtsy that almost landed the girl on her butt, she turned and almost ran from the room. Nynaeve smiled and shook her head.  
  
"Lan, will you wait outside for me? I want to talk to Gawyn alone." Lan narrowed his eyes for a split second, then nodded and left them, shutting the door behind him. "Have a seat, Gawyn," she said motioning to a chair.   
  
He sat down. "What is this all about, Nynaeve? I was-"  
  
"Gawyn," she interrupted. "Did Egwene ever tell you about Tel'aran'rhiod?"  
  
He gave a small nod, and a pained look crossed his face. "She told me a while ago. The World of Dreams."  
  
The Aes Sedai leaned back against the wall. "Yes. I go there sometimes. I can meet the people who have passed away. Egwene and I have talked, there."  
  
Gawyn narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean? Isn't it just in your dreams?"  
  
"No. Egwene is really there. It is her, but it is also all the other people she has ever been. She..." Tears filled Nynaeve's eyes. Wiping them away on her sleeve, she steadied her voice and tried not to look at Gawyn's tears. "She said she loves you, and that she is sorry... sorry for leaving you." Nynaeve closed her eyes and tried not to cry. Hearing Gawyn's strangled sob was all it took to make that effort vain.   
  
Lan knocked on the door. "Nynaeve? Are you OK?"  
  
"Of course not," a random stranger from nowhere said. Lan ran him through with his sword.  
  
"Yes. No. Light, I don't know!" she managed out between sobs. Lan opened the door, looking in to see what was going on. Gawyn had his head in his hands, crying, and Nynaeve was sitting on the bed, hunched over, shoulders shaking.  
  
"What in the name of the Creator is going on?" He asked, coming in and closing the door.  
  
Gawyn just shook his head. Nynaeve looked up. Her bloodshot eyes made her look ten times older even with Aes Sedai agelessness. "I m-miss, her, Lan! Light, I miss her s-soo m-much! Whoever p-" she cut off, covering her mouth and looking at Gawyn as if she said too much. Lan's breath caught in his throat. Had she been about to say "poisoned"? No wonder she cut off. Gawyn, though, appeared not to notice.  
  
The one time prince sat up and wiped his eyes. "Will you open a gateway to Elayne, Nynaeve?" he asked, wiping his eyes.   
  
"Of course. Let me Heal your eyes." Without letting him protest, she stood and took his head and channeled. He let out a small gasp, and his eyes were no longer red and puffy. A gateway appeared and Gawyn stood. He nodded to them and stepped through into the palace of Andor.   
  
After it disappeared, Nynaeve suddenly collapsed on Lan, sobbing. "She was there, Lan! Someone... p-p-poisoned her! That is why I couldn't Heal her!"  
  
Lan patted her back and smoothed her hair, telling her softly, "Calm down, Nynaeve, calm down."  
  
Eventually Nynaeve straightened her back and walked to the wash basin. "I thought I had cried over her enough, Lan. I really did. Light, but I miss her. I am going to bed, Lan. If someone needs me, tell them to wait unless it is an emergency. I didn't get very much sleep last night."  
  
Lan nodded. "Good Idea. Don't go to tel'aran'rhiod now, OK?"   
  
She waved him away. "Of course. Don't worry, I may be unsensible sometimes, but not all the time." As he turned to the door, she whispered (though not for him to hear), "Thank you, Lan...."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Opening the letter that had sat in that small box for so long, Nynaeve sighed. It had the Amyrlin Seat's seal on it, though it was old and the wax was peeling. Slowly unfolding the old paper, she read in Egwene's pretty, flowing handwriting:  
  
//Dearest Nynaeve,  
I am sure that you will cry for me, and I am thankful that you still want me to live, but don't mourn for me too long. I was destined to die now. My job here must be done. I am so happy for all your accomplishments, and I am sorry I couldn't raise you to the shawl while I was alive. It is written in my will, however, that you be raised as soon as the next Amyrlin is brought into the position.  
You must visit me in tel'aran'rhiod. I don't know if it is the same as when I now, when I am alive, but I will figure it out. Remember Birgitte? I hope I am as free as she when I die. I accept death. Know that, please, I don't hold anything against you. I have been mad at you, I have been upset, but I forgive you. I hope you forgive me all the times I have been a wool-headed fool. Tell Elayne I am sorry I didn't write her a letter. I barely have the strength to write this one after Gawyn's.  
I can't help it. I feel so bad, and yet I feel a peace at knowing death is only hours away. Why? I do not know. I will miss you and everyone else. I know Gawyn won't be able to take the stone ring ter'angreal, so I am giving it to you.  
Nynaeve, do not spend extra time mourning my death. I will be happy in tel'aran'rhiod. Do not cry tears that were never meant to be cried. I love you.  
Egwene al'Vere.  
Amyrlin Seat of the Combined Towers\\  
  
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She read the letter two more times, then hugged it to her and layed back on her bed, staring at the ceiling. So much had happened since the young woman had died, and Nynaeve had once or twice forgotten her want to know what had killed her closest friend. Now she knew, and she would avenge her death no matter what. Unless it killed Lan. She would lay her own life down for his.  
  
After ten minutes of simply thinking and whispering to an Egwene who did not exist, Nynaeve got up and changed into her shift. She put the letter back into the box, and the box back under her bed. Climbing under the thin sheets, the Aes Sedai shivered, though she was not cold. Egwene had known all that time that she was going to die, and never told a soul.  
  
Taking Senaara as her apprentice was not only for the girl, it was also a strategic move. She had an idea that Mayodin had some knowledge of who killed Egwene, and getting Senaara close to him could be all it would take to soften him and get him to tell. She had payed close attention to the way he acted at lunch that first day, and more than once had seen him glance at the young, pretty novice. Senaara had warmed up a little while they had talked, waiting for Lan and Gawyn. She had admitted to thinking he was cute, and blushed afterwards.  
  
Not only for Egwene's sake, Nynaeve realized, was she taking on Senaara. Mayodin was so heartless, it seemed, and she felt sorry for him. He was young, and still needed to have someone take care of him. Senaara could, once she matured a little. Honestly, that young woman acted like a three year old sometimes! If Nynaeve could only wring out that behavior.....  
  
Sleep finally covered the Aes Sedai in its endless black, filling her dreams of Lan, Mayodin and Senaara, and Egwene, gaunt and hollow eyed as she had been on that last day, writing a letter painfully.  
  
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Nynaeve yawned and rubbed her eyes. Senaara and Mayodin were late. She would have to have a word with them. They were both novices, and had no right to keep her waiting. She blinked away some water that filled her brown eyes from exaustion and caught sight of Senaara approaching her. Her hair was wet and hanging out of her braids at all angles; she must have been outside. Though the Aes Sedai had not been out yet, she knew it was storming hard.  
  
"Aes Sedai," the novice said, dipping a curtsy. "I was out and-"  
  
"How bad is the rain? Is there lightning? Silly question. I suppose there is," Nynaeve cut her off curtly. The novice blinked in surprise.  
  
"Yes, Nynaeve Sedai, it is raining. There is lightning, too. How did you know?"  
  
"I sense the weather. Where is that wretched boy? Where is Lan? Mayodin will regret the d-" Someone tapped her shoulder. Whirling around, she looked up into the dark eyes of Mayodin.   
  
He bowed respectfully, though his voice seemed strangled out of him. "Aes Sedai, I am sorry I was late. There is a s-"  
  
"A storm, yes, yes! I knew that since midnight. Have you seen Lan? He was missing this morning." She turned back around towards the direction she knew the Warder was in, standing on her tiptoes to see over another Warder's head. Muttering to herself, she whispered, "He isn't very far away.... He should be...." Raising her voice, she told the novices, "Oh well. When he gets here, he'll get here. Shall we sit down?"  
  
Senaara and Mayodin sat across from eachother, and Nynaeve peered over her shoulder as she absently sat next to Senaara. For a moment she appeared lost in space, until the male novice tapped her should. She jumped and blinked at him, a scowl rising on her face. He bowed his head, barely managing to suppress a scowl of his own. "Forgive me Nynaeve Sedai, but I was wondering when we could start."  
  
"What?" Nynaeve said absently, then shook her head and blinked again. "I should be a Brown, the way I have been acting! Sorry, Senaara, Mayodin. You two have met?"  
  
Senaara shook her head slightly. "I have seen you around, Mayodin, but we have not met." She unconsciously began re-adjusting her blonde hair into two neat braids which hung over her shoulders. He smiled- the first time Nynaeve had seen him give a real smile.  
  
"No, Senaara, I don't believe we have," he replied softly. For a moment all cruelty left his face and he considered the other novice. He looked handsome when he was not so... cold and hard looking. All moments pass, though, and this one seemed to pass fastly, thus his face returning to its normal "almost" frown. "Aes Sedai, why are we here?"  
  
"Let's just say... an experiment?" She grinned to herself as she remembered Theodrin's block. Could his be the same? "Mayodin, hold still for a moment." She channeled Flows of air and blocked his ears. Senaara watched with interest. "Senaara, I want you to look at him intently when I make him try to channel. He will have his eyes closed." Quickly undoing the Power that made Mayodin temporarily deaf, she told him, " Close your eyes and try to channel."  
  
He gave her a questioning look, but did as he was told. Senaara watched him hard, obviously interested as well as following orders. Suddenly he gasped and opened his eyes wide. "I have it! Saidin was mine, Nynaeve! Sedai." He grinned an apology, and for a moment Nynaeve forgot that he had ever looked mean. "I wonder how...."  
  
Nynaeve frowned and looked over her shoulder. According to the Bond, Lan should be right beside her. Where was he?!  
  
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Lan looked up in interest. The basement was a fascinating place, full of old things and ancient writings. Nynaeve must be somewhere right above him. He smiled to himself. She must have been going nuts, trying to find him. By now she had to sense that he was close by, but could she know he was in the basement?  
  
He looked at his feet as his boots made something crunch. A piece of paper, not very old, lay next to a broken cauldren. He picked up the paper. It was a recipe of some sort, with instructions to be givin to the Amyrlin by Kindle Sedai every three hours. Kindle was a nice person, a Gray, and was probably the person who gave Egwene her medicine before Nynaeve took over. He put the paper in his pocket and turned to find Nynaeve.  
  
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"Lan!" Nynaeve exclaimed as he stepped up behind her. She stood up and turned to look at him. "Where have you been?" Mayodin and Senaara both bowed their head to him.   
  
"I was in the basement. Here," he told her, handing the paper to her, "you might want to look at this."  
  
Nynaeve's eyes grew as she read the paper. She gasped. "This isn't medicine! It's a recipe for a p-" she clamped a hand to her mouth and looked at the two novices. "Senaara, when are you being raised? Mayodin, why don't you go to class? Senaara, go see Ailene and ask her for me, tell me at lunch."  
  
From her face, Senaara obviously knew exactly what time she was to report to the ter'angreal room, but she nodded. Nynaeve had clearly said it as an excuse to get rid of them. She and Mayodin rose, bowed and curtsied appropriately, and hurried away.  
  
The Aes Sedai sat down on the bench again and read the paper over again. "Poison," she told Lan. "This is a type of poison that would wear a person away slowly if only givin small doses. Kindle? Kindle?! Kindle can't be Black!! I have to go find her!"  
  
"Find who?" said a voice behind her. She turned around and there she was, Kindle, the Gray sister.  
  
"Coincidence," Lan muttered, "happens at the strangest times.   
  
"Kindle! Have a seat, please. I have to ask you a few questions," Nynaeve told her.  
  
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Well, how was it? So the plot thickens....... Please review. If you don't like it, fine, just don't flame. I know it is a little slow, but it will pick up speed soon, don't worry. If ppl read and don't review, I will not continue writing this. I NEED TO KNOW WHAT YOU PEOPLE THINK!!!! REVIEW!!!! 


	3. Chapter 3

Hi. I am writing a book, and the names I use in this fic are in them. Please refrain from using the names in my fics for ur own stuff. Thanks! ^.~ Anyway, I know a lot of my mistakes now (I'm in book 8 ^__^), but I am not going to change anything. No more preamble: here it is, #3.  
  
^.^ Disclaimer: If you really want me to, I will claim to own this stuff, and then you can sue. But only if you get down on your knees and beg. ^.^  
  
*****A/N: When you get to the point marked with this: *, you should know that is the line that doesn't fit the story. From this chapter on, you will be able to tell that line because of the * next to it.*****  
  
A NEW QUEST: Chapter 3  
  
Holding up the paper for Kindle to see, Nynaeve asked, "Do you recognize this?"  
  
The Gray frowned and took the crumpled paper. "No. But I know what it is from."  
  
"So do I," Nynaeve said, nodding. "You know that I worked with herbs for the first 24 years of my life, right?" The other sister nodded. "Here is an interesting fact. In small doses, the herb tracsfan can't hurt. In the quantities said to be given to Egwene here, the drinker is destined to a slow death after only two doses. There is no cure, not even with the Power." Nynaeve studied the Gray closley while she talked. Slowly her eyes grew larger, and her mouth opened slightly. "Who gave the medicine to you?"  
  
Kindle sat for a moment staring at the paper and mouthing unheard words. She came to herself with a jerk. Nynaeve repeated the question, and the calm, ageless face drained of color. "D...d...ekina did....." Nynaeve stared.   
  
"Dekina? The Amyrlin? Blood and ashes! Blood and bloody ashes...."  
  
"And.... and that explains why... Oplan was raised to Keeper! She is Yellow...."  
  
Nynaeve's eyes narrowed, ready to defend her Ajah, but she took a breath. It only made sense. No Yellow could NOT know that tracsfen was poisonous in large quantities. Oplan must have been in the conspiricy.... "I'm disgusted. My own Ajah killed my... my best friend." She said the last words with purpose, as though proving that she could mention Egwene without crying.  
  
"You swear you had nothing to do with this? Swear it, Kindle! Swear it and mean it, or you can count on a painful death...."  
  
Kindle's eyes widened more, if possible, but she shook her head. "I didn't know, Nynaeve! I swear by the Light, I had nothing to do with this! Egwene was my friend, too."  
  
Letting go of saidar- she hadn't realized she had embraced it, but she had-, Nynaeve rose. "Will you go in front of the Hall with me?"  
  
Kindle nodded. "We have to end this now."  
  
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The Sitters frowned as Nynaeve entered followed closely by Kindle. This was supposed to be very urgent, and it had better be. Lunch had been interupted to have this audience.   
  
"Hall of Sitters," Nynaeve began, dropping a curtsy that was mimicked by Kindle. "We come before you today to bring evidence of murder." She paused as serene faces stared at her with narrowed eyes. "Egwene Trakand, The Light rest her memory in peace, was fed medicine twice a day, as many of you may know." Some Sitters nodded. "Kindle Sedai," she continued, motioning to her Gray sister, "was the person who manually fed her the medicine. This is the recipe, found by Lan Gaidin in the basement of our own Tower. I am sure you would like to examine it." She handed the paper to a Yellow Sitter, who read over it and gasped, handing it to a Blue and pointed at something. "For those of you who aren't sure," Nynaeve rose her voice over the low rumble, "tracsfan is deadly and uncurable after two doses if this much is used." An audible gasp arose. "I believe Kindle has some even more shocking news."  
  
The Sitters raised their eyebrows as the young Gray stepped forward. "I gave Egwene this medicine, but I did not brew it. Oplan did. And Dekina gave the wrote the recipe and gave me the medicine to give to her."  
  
The audience was silent. Then the room errupted. An Amyrlin... murdered? And that murderer was rewarded by taking her victim's Seat?! Sitters were bickering, some standing, while others sat in stunned silence. NEVER in history had this happened before. Many of the Browns were busy writing away in notebooks. "ENOUGH!" yelled a commanding voice from the entrance, and a shocked silence fell. The Amyrlin Seat's stole settled around her shoulders, Dekina walked in with an air dignity.   
  
No one curtsied. The Sitters all stood, and Nynaeve drew herself up. By right, it was her call. She unconsciously tugged her braid. "Dekina, the Sitters have decided. You are charged with treason against the former Amyrlin, treason against the Combined Towers, and treason against all Aes Sedai. I therefore strip you and Oplan of shawl and stole. It is done." Immediatley, the former Amyrlin was shielded and Flows of Air held her in place by the Sitters so Nynaeve could take the stole from her shoulders. The six striped stole felt heavy in her hand. She looked at it and sighed sadly. While Egwene had worn it, there was still a red stripe. Egwene believed in remembering what was; Dekina didn't. She saw it as "if there isn't a Red Ajah, why have a red stripe?"  
  
Throwing the stole to the floor, she channeled, sending Flows of Fire toward the stole. "Dekina Haam, you are hereby-" gone. Somehow the former Amyrlin had escaped. The burning stole flared higher as Nynaeve's rage filled the room.   
  
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Oplan had no time to react. Dekina had come in, told her of the meeting, and pulled her away. They opened a gateway to Cairhien (another reestablished kingdom after the Second Breaking) and stepped through with no time to think. The people here would not know about their escape for months if all went well.   
  
The one-time keeper folded her arms, saying, "How did they find out, Dekina? How? We left no evidence-"  
  
"It was that rotten Yellow sister, Nynaeve. I don't know how, I just know Kindle was somehow involved. A good thing she wasn't in on killing Egwene or we would have been in much more trouble." Nynaeve and Egwene had both earned sneers from Dekina and grimaces from Oplan. Nynaeve was, afterall, the head of her Ajah- no! Nynaeve was head of the YELLOW Ajah, not Black-, and Egwene had almost proclaimed them for what they were: Black Sisters. Good thing she had added some extra wolfsbane in that last dose to kill her off before she could.  
  
Oplan scowled. "The Great Lord of the Dar-"  
  
"Doesn't exist anymore," Dekina interrupted again. "You know that. Don't be foolish." Oplan smiled.  
  
"I am never foolish," she whispered in Dekina's ear. As the "Green" turned around, a dagger was pressed between her ribs. Oplan pulled it out and smiled at the shocked look in Dekina's already glazed-over eyes. She let the body fall to the ground. The fool, claiming the Great Lord was dead. Only Oplan knew of his where-abouts, but the others should have had more faith than that. A pity, Dekina had had a head on her shoulders.   
  
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Nynaeve stalked out of the Hall like a cat whose tail had recently been stepped on by an elephant. *Lan curtsied deeply and fell over on his face. Grunting, he picked himself up.   
  
"We are leaving," Nynaeve announced. "Pack what you need; I am going to get Mayodin and Senaara." Kindle ran out of the Hall looking flustered and scared. Lan watched the back of his Bondholder as she vanished around a corner.  
  
"What happened?" He asked Kindle.  
  
The Gray shook her head. "Aes Sedai ears only, Gaidin. I'm sure Nynaeve will tell you soon." She turned to stalk off in the other direction. Her Warder Iolern shrugged to Lan and fell into step behind his Aes Sedai. Lan scowled and turned to go to his rooms.  
  
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"Mayodin, Senaara, we are leaving before the day is done. Pack now and don't ask questions." Senaara blinked as Nynaeve's voice told her just that. Sitting across from her, Mayodin's face turned to ash. She looked behind her and saw why. Nynaeve had a look on her face that would have nailed a person to the wall.  
  
"Yes, Nynaeve Sedai," Senaara murmured, standing to drop a curtsy. Mayodin bowed and hurried off to his room. Nynaeve watched Senaara go in the opposite direction before heading to her own apartments. She smiled grimly as she ran. Good, she thought, she is making him care about something besides himself.  
  
"Nynaeve?" Lan called. She turned to find her Warder looking at her with a concerned look. "You, uh, passed... your room."   
  
"Oh." She laughed to herself and patted his cheek as she walked by and into her room. Stuffing two bags full with dresses and shifts and numerous other things, she muttered to herself, "I wonder where they went. Not Andor. Shanal? No.... Cairhien? Maybe. Maybe Oaldeae.... Probably one of those. Oplan is from Oaldeae and Dekina, Cairhien. Lan! Lan, co-"  
  
"I've been here the whole time. What?"  
  
"We are going to Oaldeae. Where are those Accepted?!" Senaara and Mayodin had both beem raised to Accepted, which she had not counted on. Senaara, yes, but Mayodin? The boy was just learning how to channel properly! Oh well. What was done, was done. "Ah! There you are. Come on."  
  
Senaara glanced at the Aes Sedai doubtfully. She looked as though she had just come out of a very hard battle without sweating. Nynaeve brushed past them without another word. Lan followed her, carrying only one saddle bag.  
  
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She opened a gateway and stepped out into a palace. Lan came next to, followed by Senaara then Mayodin. She walked through, adjusting the yellow-fringed shawl on her shoulders. Servants backed away in surprise. "Excuse me," she said to a passing servant.   
  
The man stopped and bowed deeply. "Yes, Aes Sedai?"  
  
"Can you take me to Rhana Sedai?"  
  
The old man looked slightly green. "Of, c-course, Aes Sed-d-dai," he stammered. He began walking hurrying down a long corridor. After what seemed like Ages, he stopped in front of a door. "She is in there, Aes Sedai." He bowed and hurried away. She knocked. "Rhana! Open up! It's me, Nynaeve."  
  
There was a loud sound of scrambling, then the door opened quickly and a woman about Nynaeve's age looked through. Her ageless face wasn't pretty, but she was no witch. She curtsied slightly. "Nynaeve. What an honor."  
  
The Yellow sister entered and took off her shawl. The other sister had apparently thrown hers on to honor the head of her Ajah. It was amazing that Nynaeve had become head of the Yellow Ajah so young, most other Ajah's had leaders much, much older. "Rhana!" she groaned, "You know I don't care for formality!" The other Yellow blinked and looked down at her own yellow-fringed shawl.  
  
"Oh. I was already wearing this. I just got back from an audience with King Aknai. How have you been? Who are the others?" Rhana's Warder, Maasin, came out at the sound of voices from another room. Rhana smiled and motioned for him to go back. "Nothing important, Maasin. Old friends visiting." He bowed to Nynaeve   
  
Nynaeve smiled. "Well, I have been pretty good, until... well, that's another story. This is my Warder, Lan. These two are my apprentices, Senaara and Mayodin."  
  
Lan nodded to her, Senara curtsied, and Mayodin bowed. Rhana smiled benevolently. "Welcome, all of you. What brings you here?" She closed the door behind Mayodin.  
  
"Dekina killed Egwene, Rhana." Her friend gasped and sat down hard. "When I found out, I put it in front of the Women's Hall. We stripped her of the stole and were about to still her when... well, I'm not sure what happened. Somehow she and Oplan got away." Everyone in the room was gaping at her. Well, almost averyone. Lan was as close to gaping as a Warder could be. "We came to Oaldeae because that is where Oplan is from. And from talking to E-.... Well, from talking to some sources, I know that they are- or were- Black Ajah."  
  
Lan raised his eyebrows. "Why didn't you tell me? They won't be here in Oaldeae."  
  
"What?" Nynaeve asked. "What do you mean? Why not?"  
  
"Honestly, Nynaeve! They may be... Black Ajah... but they are not complete idiots! Use your head."  
  
"He has a point," Rhana said. "Everyone knows that King Aknai would kill off any leftover dakfriend in a moment. Besides, any Aes Sedai from Oaldeae is immediatley disclaimed by their family and told not to come back. Good thing they agreed to let me come to Heal Aknai. No Aes Sedai has ever been this far into Oaldeae before, and you know it."  
  
Senaara looked about ready to faint. Mayodin's face was slightly pale. The female Accepted murmured, "But... who is the Amyrlin now?"  
  
Nynaeve and Rhana turned their calm stares to her. She bit her tounge. "Well," sighed Nynaeve after a moment, "I'm not sure. The Women's Hall will choose soon, I suppose."  
  
Rhana added, "I hope. Well! If we have excluded Oaldeae, then where else will those... traitors,-" she spat the word "traitors" out as though they were unworthy of discussion (which Nynaeve agreed with, quite frankly) "-where will they be?"  
  
"Cairhien." Lan nodded in agreement to what his Bondholder said. "I guess we shouldn't wait. To the hills of Cairhien. But first," she declared after a pause, "to the Tower. We need our horses." She gave Rhana a quick embrace and opened another gateway to the stables.  
  
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The stableboy stepped back in surprise as first Nynaeve, then Lan, Senaara and Mayodin appeared suddenly in the place he had been shoveling manure. Nynaeve looked down at her feet and grimaced. She shook her head, then said to the young boy, "Go saddle our horses. Urm... that one is mine, that one is Lan's, and those two will do for the Accepted."  
  
Coming to his senses, the stableboy ran to do as he was told, grabbing four saddles that were too heavy for him to carry. Lan gave him an amused look, then picked up three of the saddles and began saddling his own and Nynaeve's horses. Within five minutes the two mares and two stallions were ready to go. Senaara grinned and mounted a gray mare, shaggy white fur around her hooves, as though she was born in a saddle. Lan no longer had Mandarb- that horse was long dead- but his young black stallion, also called Mandarb, was almost identical. Mayodin uncertainly climbed into the other- a dark brown beauty- stallion's saddle. Nynaeve swung up onto Faron's back, settling into the saddle.  
  
No sooner had they all mounted their steeds than a gateway appeared and they left, Lan tossing the gaping boy a few gold pieces.  
  
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Senaara rode with wide eyes and no apparent effort. She had produced riding gloves from some unknown source. Mayodin sat on his tall brown stallion, bouncing this way and that. He hated riding. He looked up from staring whistfully at the ground when he heard Senaara murmur, "Sophie! That's a good name for you, isn't it?" and she patted the mare's neck.  
  
Staring down at his own mount, he wondered what to name it. Senaara looked over at him with a grin. "How about Dusk?" she gave a small laugh, but, to her surprise, Mayodin nodded.  
  
"That's a good name! All right, his name is Dusk." Nynaeve and Lan rode side by side in front of the pair of Accepted, their heads together as they murmured about their journeys. The girl looked at them with a long look.  
  
"Nynaeve Sedai," she finally called. Nynaeve and Lan both turned to give her flat looks. She grimaced. "Pardon, Aes Sedai. I was just wondering if I can change out of this dress." She plucked at the uncomfortable cotton that was pulled nearly up to her knees. "It isn't good for riding in." Nynaeve looked down at her own divided skirts and frowned. The deep blue silk was thick and poofy, with a low neckline.  
  
"Well, we have to stop for camp some time today, for camp. I suppose we should set up now; the sun is getting pretty low. We will have dinner and then you can put on your shift for sleeping, if you choose. Lan, can you scout ahead for a place to stop?" Lan nodded and kicked Mandarb into a trot. "Senaara, will you come here? Sorry, Mayodin, girls ears only." She gave a quick grin.  
  
Senaara shrugged to Mayodin and heeled Sophie up to ride next to Nynaeve. Dropping her voice to a quiet murmur, she said, "Senaara, you like Mayodin, don't you?" Senaara frowned. Small talk from an Aes Sedai? She blushed a little and shrugged. "Don't worry, I can tell without your answer. I just wanted you to know that he is... not what he appears to be."  
  
"What do you mean?" asked Senaara, narrowing her eyes a little.  
  
"He is a dangerous man. Convicted as being a darkfriend. No one really knows much about him. He never really smiled until he met you. Just be careful around him, OK? I don't want either of you being hurt."  
  
Senaara bit her tongue to the response that came to mind. Instead she bowed her head carefully. "As you say, Aes Sedai." As Nynaeve started to ride forward again, Senaara managed to pull up her courage. "Nynaeve Sedai," she called. Nynaeve twisted around and gave her a questioning look. "Um... may I ask.... Well, on the subject of guys, um... do you... like Lan Gaidin."  
  
Nynaeve smiled and pulled her braid softly. "Why do you ask?" she inquired, an amused look crossing her face for a moment.   
  
"Just because... well, um.... You said you know with me and Mayodin. Well, I guess it is the same thing."  
  
The Aes Sedai nodded thoughtfully, hand slowly going up and down her braid. "Well. I suppose I do. In fact, I more than like him. Ponder that one for a while." She turned her back to Senaara again, tossing her braid back over her shoulder.  
  
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When Nynaeve dismounted, she was the shortest in camp. Mayodin was a good head and shoulders taller, Senaara about a hand. She frowned. No gray hairs, no height. Would others ever respect her?! Tugging at her braid visciously, she stalked to the fire. Lan had chosen a good place, and the tents were set up already. Senaara had begun cooking, and the smell coming from the pot was lucious.  
  
Sitting down, she glanced at Senaara, who was now in clean, dark red riding skirts. "You ride well, you cook well... is there anything you DON'T do well?"  
  
Senaara grinned and gave a quick curtsy. "Heal," she said simply.  
  
Nynaeve grunted. "Don't worry. We'll change that soon." Lan came and sat next to his Bondholder. She leaned over and rested her head on his shoulder murmuring unheard to Senaara's ears. "Dekina and Oplan could be anywhere. I know where to go first. I have an agent in the town of Alayn. We can make it there tomorrow, but we are too close to use a gateway. I don't know where the farms are located around it. The little town reminds me so much of Emond's Field."  
  
"How long will it take to get there?" he asked.  
  
"Well, if we leave at sunrise, we can make it probably... when the sun is 3/4 set. Evening. If we stop, we will lose precious time. But," she sighed after a short pause, "we have to eat."  
  
Lan gave a short chuckle. "No, YOU have to eat. And Senaara and Mayodin. I can scout while you have lunch."  
  
Nynaeve sat up and gave him a glare that would have made any other person run for their moms. "Al'Lan Mandragoran, you will eat if I have to stuff it down your throat with my own bare hands. And trust me, if I cook, you won't want me putting it anywhere near your mouth."  
  
"Nynaeve Sedai? Lan Gaidin? Here is some food. It is tomato soup. My mother taught me how to cook, and tomato soup is always good after a long ride. Where is Mayodin?!" After handing her teacher and Lan a bowl of soup, she stalked off to find Mayodin, calling his name and stooping to check the tents. After a moment, she emerged from a tent with her friend trailing her with a confused look on his face. As they came nearer to the fire, Nynaeve heard Senaara say in exasperated tones, "...and you should be out here helping me, not sitting and doing nothing."  
  
"But.... Senaara! Blood and ashes, girl! Come on...." he trailed off and bowed to Nynaeve and Lan. The Aes Sedai was hiding a grin behind a bowl of soup. Lan had a slightly amused look on his face. Slightly.  
  
Nynaeve lied her head on his shoulder again and whispered, "We won't argue when we get married."  
  
"When?" Lan muttered back. "Surely, Nynaeve, you don't want to be marr-"  
  
"What I want, Lan Mandragoran, is what I want, not YOU. Now, kindly agree with me so I can go to bed." She had a deathgrip on her braid, and her eyes shone with an angry light.  
  
The Warder sighed heavily. "Fine. When. But that doesn-"  
  
"Doesn't what? Doesn't mean we are getting married in Alayn? Of course it does. Goodnight." She spared him a quick kiss on the cheek and nearly skipped to her tent. Lan shook his head. HOW DID SHE DO IT? Not only making him say things he didn't agree to, but also changing moods so fast. Women. So odd. He thanked the Light that he wasn't one and set his dish down to begin patrolling camp.  
  
"Lan Gaidin, I will take second watch," Mayodin told him. Lan nodded curtly. Senaara was staring after Nynaeve with a look as though she suddenly understood everything.  
  
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Nynaeve was already in her silk shift and plaiting her hair again when Senaara's soft voice called at the door. The girl ducked in after Nynaeve's call of "come in."  
  
"Yes?" she asked without looking up from her braid, which hung over her shoulder and was more than half done now.   
  
"Um, Nynaeve Sedai-"  
  
"Please, in private, just call me Nynaeve, OK? I hate formality."  
  
"As you... you say Nynaeve...." Senaara shook her head, her blonde hair swinging loosely. "I wanted to ask you some questions."  
  
Finishing her braid and tying it off with a plain white ribbon, the Yellow sister replied, "Go ahead."  
  
"OK. Will you tell me... well.... What... How did you... choose Lan Gaidin... if you know what I mean?"  
  
"Lan? I didn't choose him, destiny did." She smiled. "You, of course, know of Moiraine Sedai, correct?" Senaara nodded quickly, all the novices were told of Moiraine's death and killing of the two Forsaken. "First of all, let me set something straight. Moiraine was not amazing and perfect, contrary to common belief. True, she was pretty, true she killed some Forsaken. But she was only.... so tall-" she held a hand up to where she thought Moiraine would have stood. "-and she always thought she was right." A scowl rose on Nynaeve's face. "In case you didn't notice, I never really liked her...  
  
"Anyway, Lan was bonded to Moiraine when I met them. Moiraine herded Rand, Mat, Perrin, and Egwene out of the Two Rivers as easily as a sheperd taking the flock to a new grazing area. I followed them to get them back- I was Wisdom of Emond's Field and I took them as my responsiblity- and ended up following them to Tar Valon. Along the way, I found out how much I loved Lan and from there we have... gone our own ways... [A/N I KNOW THIS ISN'T TRUE!! Sorry it isn't to the books, but I had to say something. BTW, I love the marriage thingymadoo!! sorry. Cap'n, resume fanfic!] until he found me at the Towers."  
  
"Oh. I see. What is it about him?"  
  
Nynaeve smiled knowingly. "I think you could tell me what you feel about Mayodin and I would agree to everything you say. Well, it would be the same for me to Lan, that is."  
  
The Accepted blushed. "I know I like Mayodin a little more than normal... All right," she muttered as Nynaeve gave her an amused grin. "A little more than THAT, but still.... He just confuses me sometimes."  
  
"You know, Senaara, you really ought to braid your hair." The Yellow sister shrugged at her apprentice's look that said "where on earth did that come from?". "Let me do it? I will let you spill out everything you ever wanted to say. You can trust me; I won't say a word to anyone."  
  
Senaara narrowed her eyes at her teacher for a moment, considering, then nodded. She sat down on the bed with her back to Nynaeve. Her long blonde hair was already brushed and Nynaeve's skilled fingers barely pulled as she twisted the strands of hair together. "You know, I have never braided my hair before? In Bennum, we don't braid our hair; most girls just wear it loose like I normally do."  
  
"What is it like in Bennum? I have only been there once, and on a quick business trip."  
  
The young woman smiled. "Well, it is a lot different from the Combined Towers. For one, we don't allow pets. I never knew why, and I still don't. But... what about life before the Second Breaking?"  
  
Nynaeve's fingers paused, then resumed tying the ribbon at the bottom of the Accepted's braid. "Before the Second Breaking? Different. Saidin was not clean, as you know, and when Rand set up the Black Tower, the Asha'man went insane rather quickly. The Red Ajah could not keep them in control. Elaida... she was a weak Amyrlin, easily persuaded and bent to the will of others. Then Egwene came and banished her bloo-"she gave a slight cough- "her out of the Tower. Rand, Mat and Perrin's ta'verenness made odd things happen....."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Tug, tug, tug, tug. That bloody hand never stopped, and Nynaeve looked about ready to kill someone. She growled at Mayodin as he offered her breakfast. Light! He was only being nice. He grimaced at the thought. Senaara and her flaming way of changing him with every bloody smile. Nice, indeed!   
  
Lan was already up and moving, scanning the hills around them and muttering to himself. When he saw Nynaeve, he groaned. "What's the matter?" he asked quietly.  
  
"I need sleep," she replied grumpily. Senaara was no better. She also had a flaming braid! Blood and ashes, what was the world coming to?! His friend walked over and gratefully- gratefully, not sourly like SOME Aes Sedai- accepted the bowl of porridge he offered he.  
  
"Good morning," he muttered grumpily.  
  
Senaara grinned sleepily and murmured a quiet "hi". Nynaeve tossed her bowl down after the last of the bland porridge was gone and walked to take Senaara's head in her hands. The girl gasped; Mayodin got goosebumps for a few seconds. "How did you do that, Nynaeve?" she asked, then added a hasty "Sedai."  
  
"Oh. It is a simple weave. You just put some Flows of Spirit here and Water here...." Those bloody goosebumps came back... then Senaara stood and they doubled.   
  
"Like this?" she asked. Nynaeve peered at the seemingly empty space in front of her, then nodded. Senaara said, "If I may?" and held her hands out. Nynaeve gave another short nod and the Accepted took the Aes Sedai's head into her hands. Lan looked up sharply as the Healing took place, obviously feeling the seering lightning running through the Yellow sister's body. Nynaeve only blinked and shuddered a little shudder, but from that moment on she was more aware and awake. Mayodin was glad; he did not want to travel with a cranky Aes Sedai. Though he was not sure Nynaeve was ever anything BUT cranky.   
  
As soon as everyone had eaten, that bloody, short Aes Sedai had people running and packing. Soon he was unhappily seated in Dusk's saddle, Senaara on Sophie riding at his side.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Oplan smiled and licked her dagger's blade, coveting the taste of fresh human blood. She was human, true, but it was a good taste. Shoving the unclothed body of the king of Cairhien aside, she beckoned with one hand and a servant ran forward. "Take him away. Cover the dagger's mark and make his death look... natural. As he would had he died of that sudden, horrible fever." She laughed. The naked man bowed and did as he was told. She watched his back. She did not think it necassary, to clothe servants. That was simply more money down a whirlpool, and spent on people who gave their lives to others! Besides, he had a fine body.  
  
Again, she motioned, and a woman, clothed as well as the other had been, ran forward and flung herself to the ground, kissing her feet, as she did not have a hem on to kiss. "Up," she commanded, after she thought the kissing and grovelling had gone on long enough. The woman instantly was on her feet, bent double in an effort to keep her head close to the ground. Oplan smiled. She was very well trained, and not a touch of Compulsion had been needed. "Go get my robe. I'm getting cold." The woman backed away without standing up, then turned and ran from the king's bedchambers to get Oplan's robe. The king had not suspected a knife through his ribs after enjoying the... fun with his "cousin" who had appeared rather suddenly.   
  
She considered what she had done, starting to turn it over in her mind. She supposed she hadn't needed to go that far, but what was the point of simply wasting such a pretty man? She laughed to herself as the servant scurried in with a fine, silver silk robe. As soon as the one-time Keeper's arms were through the arms of the robe, the servant once again pressed her head to the floor, hands seeming to reach out to Oplan. Very well trained indeed.  
  
"Go get my advisor," she told the woman. "And Rinale? If a single word of anything you have seen in here slips from her mouth, worse than death can be expected." Rinale prostrated herself once more and babbled endlessly how she would not say anything inbetween kisses on the hem of her mistress's finely embroidered robe. Oplan snapped her fingers, and the woman ran out of the room once more.  
  
Giving herslef a slight shake, she sat done on the bed, shoving aside silk sheets that were in dissarray. Blood and ashes, what had she become? She could remember days long gone when she had believed the Light would save her. How innocent she had been! And now, she was a monster. Licking blood off daggers? Taking advantage of the helpless? What would her mother say? Snarling, she stood and through the dagger hard at the wall. Why these thoughts now? Had she not just done the will of the Great Lord of the Dark, by killing the king of Cairhien?  
  
Rinale had returned with Felmanes, the advisor to the late king. Felmanes had fallen victim to her skills of Compulsion within the first day of her arrival. "Yes, my Lady Katra?" Katra had been her sisters name, and, not able to go by Oplan, she had chosen it.   
  
Oplan sat on the bed, acting as though she was heartbroken. "My Lord Felmanes, his Majesty has died! Oh, the Light have mercy!" She fell back on the bed and sobbed fakely. "What shall we do?"  
  
Felmanes eyes opened in shock. "My Lady, you will become queen, now.... Rinale!" he snapped suddenly. "Leave this instant." Rinale bent as low as possible and scuttled away.   
  
Oplan sat back up. Letting her robe fall open a little, she looked up at Felmanes. "I can't believe it. Comfort me. Oh, please, I need you...." Creep! She accused herself, as Felmanes looked into her eyes, then at the bed. The weaves began to fall into place. "Felmanes," she cooed, "I'm in pain. Comfort me...." he looked at her and smiled. The weave tightened before he knew it, and she twined her hands into his hair. "My Lord Felmanes," she murmured. Inside, every part of her seethed at herself, shuddered at what she was. /I'm not better than a bloody Myrdraall,/ she told herself roughly. /I'm a monster. That is all I will ever be, now./  
  
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Well. I didnt quite expect that to come out of my fingers, but I just type. My fingers have a mind of their own. If that disturbed you (and I don't blame you), know that it disturbed me, too, and won't happen again. Oplan really is a creep, though, isn't she? Remember, no reviews, no story.  
Please excuse any spelling errors made. Thanks. PLEASE REVIEW!  
  
REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!!!  
  
Answer one (or more) of these questions in thew review, please, if you don't mind.  
  
1. What do you want to "see" happen?  
2. Do you think it is getting anywhere?  
3. Should I continue?  
4. What do you think will happen? 


	4. Chapter 4

Here it is, Chapter 4. Nothing important to say except I have gotten into the 9th book and I know most/all of my mistakes. Please don't flame and tell me my dumb mistakes, K? ^_^  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own anything but what I own. Does that make sense? Something you might find odd- I chose the name that Lan would use as a "code name" to be Aurick, which means Strong Ruler. I didn't know that was what it meant until I chose it. Anyway, I don't own baby-name books, either. ^_^  
  
A NEW QUEST: Chapter 4  
  
A fortnight after they left the Towers, the small, strange party of Aes Sedai, Warder, and Accepted made their way into Cairhien, Cairhien. The capital, full of tall towers and spiraling mansions, loomed high above the milling people who, garbed in dreary clothes, looked from food stand to food stand. Nynaeve, in her bright silk, stood out like a sore thumb. People rushed to get out of her way. She had pulled her cloak up despite the heat, and her Great Serpent ring was hidden. She did not wish to announce her presence to the world, though her clothes had already ahcieved that; and especially not the fact she was Aes Sedai. This soon after the Second Breaking, the majority of the people were... slightly uneasy around all Aes Sedai. Lan had, also, gotten wridden of evidence of being a Warder, as his cloak was normal, dark brown.  
  
Walkuing into an inn, the Yellow sister signaled to the innkeeper, who hurried over and bowed. "Ah, my Ladys, my Lords. What can I do for you?"  
  
"We want the best rooms you have open. Money will be generous for good privacy, Good Master."  
  
"Ah, yes, my Lady. Please, Kizid Fron at your service." He made an awkward leg, then frowned thoughtfully. "Please, my Lady... ah Lady..."  
  
"Call me Relane. This is my husband, call him Aurick, and these are my students, Mayodin and Senaara." He gave a start at the fact that 'Aurick' was the Lady's husband. His clothes were neither fancy nor silk, a major contrast to Nynaeve's bright silk.   
  
"May I take your cloak, Lady Relane, ah, Lord Aurick? And of course, yours, too, Master Mayodin, Mistress Senaara." He held a hand out, and Senaara immediatley shed her cloak. Mayodin and Lan did the same, but Nynaeve hesitated. Finally, she came to a decision. Taking off her cloak, she settled it carefully on the man's arm. His eyes widened at her ageless face, and then strayed to Lan, obviously questioning whether they were truly married. He also obviously knew that Lan was Warder. But Aes Sedai could not lie.  
  
"Rooms, Master Fron?" Lan asked gruffly.  
  
As if coming to himself, Fron gave a start and nodded. "Up the stairs and to the left. Ah, let me see.... Cyra! Come here, girl!" A young woman in serving maid's black and white, hurried over. "Take the Lord and Lady to our best rooms. Ah, that is... the Aes Sedai and Lord...." He gave Nynaeve a questioning look. She simply shrugged, a bare movement of her shoulders.  
  
Cyra almost stared openly. She cam close to gaping at the words "Aes Sedai", but she quickly came to her senses and curtsied. "How many rooms, Aes Sedai?"  
  
"Three. One for myself and my husband, and one for each student." Cyra did gape at 'husband', taking Lan in up and down, but, once again, came around quickly. She curtsied deeper than the last one and hurried to show them to their rooms. "Excellent," Nynaeve muttered as she entered the room. The Bond between Lan and herself flowed with disapproval. She could guess why. Admitting they were married was probably as bad as showing her ageless face in public. Throwing her minimal amounts of saddlebags onto the bed, she told her Warder, "I'm going to have dinner. Coming?" He shook his head, so she left the room alone.  
  
Senaara and Mayodin caught up with her in the hallway. "Getting dinner?" the female Accepted asked. Nynaeve nodded. They fell into step behind her, walking the rest of the way in silence. Carefully pulling up her skirts as not to trip on them, Nynaeve stepped lightly down the stairs. The innkeeper looked up from a desk and paled slightly. He stood, evidently unsure what to say or do around Aes Sedai.  
  
"Ah, Relane Sedai.... What can I do for you?" Fron asked, mopping his forhead with a hankercheif.   
  
"Dinner for the three of us. And a private table. And, Master Fron," she called softly as he turned his back to tell the cook. He stopped dead in his tracks and spun to face her quickly, his light blue eyes darting as though looking for an escape route. Nynaeve almost laughed. Being Aes Sedai did that to people, sometimes. Instead, she narrowed her eyes slightly, becoming the ideal Aes Sedai in serenity and calmness. "I don't wish to announce my presence to everyone. You will remember not to speak of me, won't you? And that girl- Cyra?- she will, too, of course." She pressed to coins into his hand. "One for your silence, one for the girl's. Do not meddle with the affairs of the Towers." His eyes were very wide and he bowed deeply, clutching the gold pieces as a child would a favorite stuffed animal during a thunder storm.   
  
She smiled contentedly as he rushed away. Senaara gaped; Mayodin was looking at her as if SHE was insane. "What?" she asked simply before following a maid- sent by Fron, double fast- to a private table.   
  
Senaara settled her skirts and layed her hands on the table, asking slowly, "Where is L... Lord Aurick?" Nynaeve frowned thoughtfully, then settled a ward around them. Just in case.  
  
"Lan is upstairs. Listen. From now on I am going to hide who I am, as will Lan. You are to call us Lord and Lady- I know, I know... I don't like it either, Mayodin- and you are to be my students. We will be studying... hmm...." the Aes Sedai trailed off, deep in thought.  
  
"Legends from the Third Age?" Senaara suggested. Nynaeve frowned, then nodded. It was still hard to comprehend the fact that they were, indeed, now into the Fourth Age. It might do, since the Third Age was a very important part of history, and the Towers' librbary did not hold many books of the recent times- the times when Rand was alive.  
  
"That'll do." Nynaeve smiled, remembering a time, what seemed a long time ago.... Moiraine, the collector of stories who had wandered into the Two Rivers for more stories. Lan, her faithful follower. Her smile faded a little when she saw Cyra coming their way with three trays balanced skillfully on her hands and head. With a tiny wave, she made the ward disappear right as the girl was about to step through it. She might find it a little odd if she stepped through seemingly empty air and suddenly could not hear a thing besides herself and the three others.  
  
She dipped a small curtsy, her light-haired head never wavering as she set down one tray, then another, and finally the third. With slightly wide eyes, she eyed Senaara, Mayodin, and Nynaeve thoughtfully. Finally, she turned to Nynaeve. "Forgive me, Aes Sedai, but... is she supposed to glow?"  
  
Nynaeve almost dropped her cup of wine. "What did you say?" she spluttered.  
  
Cyra's eyes got even wider. "I-I-I'm s-s-s-orry, Aes Sedai! I didn't mean to do anything wrong!"  
  
The Yellow got a hold of herself, took a deep breath, and said, much more calmly, "You didn't do anything wrong. Now, you say Senaara glows? How?" Senaara and Mayodin had very confused looks painted on their faces, and Cyra was only a little behind them.  
  
"She just... does...." the girl murmured, close to crying. Nynaeve sighed. This might take some time.   
  
"OK, girl. Why don't you bring some salt?" Cyra, eager to get away, barely curtsied before running away. "Senaara.... Has anything... odd... ever happened around you?"  
  
"Well," she began carefully, "kind of. Like the time Luquios -my brother- fell from his horse and was not harmed. And there was the time I accidently tipped over Mother's china dishes and they didn't brake. And then-"  
  
"The Light help us," Nynaeve breathed. "Ta'veren."  
  
Mayodin dropped his fork halfway to his mouth. Senaara paled and began stammering reasons why she could NOT be ta'veren, but her teacher waved her hand impatiently. "Cyra must be a... a wilder who has the Talent of seeing ta'veren. I knew she could channel, if not even as much as even Morgase, but did NOT expect that.... Well, well. Ta'veren. This could work to our advantage. I haven't seen any signs of it yet, but you ccould be minor." She narrowed her eyes at the still stunned girl, and murmured, "What does the Pattern want from you, girl? What from you...."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Mayodin had noticed Senaara's ta'veren working on him since the day he met her, even if he didn't know that was what it was. A day later the first sign of Senaara's new found ta'verenness truly showed up when, while riding through the street, a paper flew and landed on Sophie's neck.  
  
She read it, and her face was instantly chalk white. "The Light have mercy." Mayodin rode up next to her.  
  
"Blood and bloody ashes!" The document read:  
  
Citizens of Cairhien,  
King Munro Faden, the Light blessed, Lord of New Cairhien, has   
died from fever. His cousin, the Lady Katra Faden, is to take the throne   
within the next week. The Light bless His Majesty's late name forever.   
Lord Felmanes of Cairhien  
  
"Katra," Mayodin said suddenly. "I know that name." He narrowed his eyes. A darkfriend- Black sister, to be exact- used that name when the High Council met. She had stood higher than he had, but no one revealed true names or appearences. "She is Aes Sedai, I think."   
  
"How do you know her?" Senaara asked, frowning. "I never knew King Munro had a cousin, let alone that she was Aes Sedai...."  
  
Her friend grimaced. "I'll tell you later. Let's go find Nynaeve Sedai." She nodded. Clutching the paper, she spurred Sophie into a trot. Mayodin followed her- true, without as much grace- and within moments they were at the inn seeking out Aes Sedai and Warder. They were not hard to find. Nynaeve sat in a corner studying people. Her face was shadowed by the veil that she had decided to wear after someone fainted because of her ageless face, but even its translucent blue folds did not hide her displeasure at seeing them back so soon. Lan sat next to her, calmly immitating his bondholder. No one in the crowded room really noticed them, but those who did shirked away from the Warder's hard stare.  
  
"What are you doing back?" Nynaeve growled. "I told you not to come back for another hour! I need some time.... What is that, child? Give it here....." She held out her ring covered hand, which Senaara prompty set the sheet of paper in. "Blood and ashes. Blood. And. Bloody. Ashes," Mayodin heard her mutter, a little too loudly, in surprise. The veil, matching her dress and slippers, was not uncommon- in fact, he could see three other women in the room with one-, but most were not made to cover faces so people could not see nose or mouth. That alone caused stares occaisonally, but those words, coming from such an... innocent person? That caused more than enough stares for comfort.  
  
Lan looked at the paper, narrowing his eyes as he read. "Katra? King Munro does not have a cousin named Katra."  
  
"Um, Lady Relane.... I know who Katra is. Well, I know at least that she was a darkfriend, and Aes Sedai."  
  
Nynaeve leaned back in her chair. Mayodin doubted he could have read her expression even if the veil had allowed him to try. As it was, her cool, dark eyes studied him, and he could imagine her mouth twisted in a slight, thoughtful frown. "How do you know, Mayodin?" she finally asked slowly.  
  
Her apprentice swallowed hard. "I... was a darkfriend." Senaara gasped, and Lan's hand went to his sword hilt, but Nynaeve held up a hand to silence them as Mayodin rushed on. "I have turned back to the Light! Please don't think I still forsake the Creator! Please!"  
  
Senaara sat down in a chair hard. Her eyes were wide, and she stared at the other Accepted with an amazed, and shocked, expression on her face. The Yellow sister, however, appeared to take the news calmly. "Calm down, Senaara. The boy is hardly going to put a knife through you. Now, Mayodin, tell me what you know of Katra."   
  
"Well, she was on the High Council, above myself, and she is Aes Sedai. None of us- no, them ever use their real names, so......."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Most people in the palace knew Oplan was Aes Sedai, though Compulsion stopped them from telling the public. Trust. Such a simple concept. Simple, yet the best ally and worst enemy. People who did not trust you did not support you. People, she found through experience, don't trust Aes Sedai.  
  
A servant entered the room. She sighed. After a long debate with the head maid, she had decided to give them a decent uniform. The girl knelt and kissed her dress' hem before saying respectfully, "News from the city, my Lady. An Aes Sedai is somewhere within the city's walls, and she is making inquires about "Dekina" and "Oplan". We are not sure who those people are, but there are some speculations. Some believe they are the Amyrlin and Keeper who were deposed, but no one knows for sure. Lord Felmanes was told this day. No one knows who she is, but she has a Warder and two apprentices. She has, however, succesfully hidden her location. That is what I was to report, my Lady."  
  
Oplan sat down on a high-backed chair slowly. So. A sister in the city. That could be dangerous. "Send Lord Felmanes, Lady Nyssa, and Lady Lisandre to my sitting room immediatley, Gaia." The servant kissed the hem once more before rising, curstying, and hurrying from the room. Oplan herself walked slowly into her sitting room. Taking a large, padded chair, she sat and slowly went over what Gaia had told her.  
  
What Aes Sedai would come after her? A long list. It was possible that she was looking for Dekina, and was drawn here. A slight pity she had killed the woman. It would have been a good story, saying that she was tricked by Dekina into horrid conditions and the like. Too late for that. If Nynaeve weren't the head of the Yellow Ajah now, Oplan would be sure that it was her. No Ajah leader could be away from the Towers for too long without getting complaints from her Ajah. There was always some dispute for the Ajah heads to figure out. Not Nynaeve. Who else? Little Kindle? The one Nynaeve brought into her conspiracy? Possibly. Maybe it was P-  
  
"My Lady," came Nyssa's voice from the doorway. Another work of Compulsion, though small, to get her "equals" to call her "Lady". "That serving woman says you summoned us, no?" After the Second Breaking, people from all nations joined under new names. Nyssa's mother and father had been Taraboner.  
  
"Yes, come in. We have a problem. There is another sister in the city," Oplan began without even waiting for her guests to seat themselves. Lisandre showed no reaction; afterall, what was so bad about that? Aes Sedai often came to Cairhien, and no one thought twice of it. Nyssa's face was the model of confusion, and Felmanes was stroking his Tairen- or what was Tairen, before Tear was decemated by al'Thor and his Asha'man- cut mustache thoughtfully. "She has been... asking around for Dekina and Oplan." iThat/i got their attention. Lisandre, Nyssa, and Felmanes were the only people in Cairhien that knew who "Katra" really was.  
  
Lisandre licked her full lips, and her already pale face became white as chalk. "What do we do now, my Lady?" Nyssa and Felmanes were both wide eyed and frowning.  
  
Their queen-to-be smiled. "You will have your special men sent out to hunt her down. She has to have attracted some kind of attention to herself. Have, oh... ten men sent out to search the inns for her. Search them inside and out! If I hear of one inn being overlooked, you can be assured the men won't be the only one punished." The Lord and two Ladies paled- Lisandre even more, if possible; they had all been subject to "Katra's" wrath.  
  
They knelt and pressed their foreheads to the floor, like servants, and told her they would do as commanded before scurrying from her sitting room to have the men set to spying.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Nynaeve watched with interest as another man came into the inn. Her veil today was a rosy pink, to match her dress, and, like the other, covered her nose down to chin. This man, unlike the other commoners who came in, looked around, studying each face. When his eyes fell on her, sitting alone in a corner sipping cool wine. She met his own cold stare for a matching one.  
  
He bought a cup of what looked like water and came to sit with her. She narrowed her eyes. What did this... this... creature want with her? She adjusted her dress, and said coolly, "Yes, Master....?"  
  
"Kyvan. And your name is?"   
  
Nynaeve's cool expression never changed, though she felt a boiling fury rise. How DARE he. However, she smiled slightly behind her veil and replied, "Call me Relane."  
  
"Good day, Lady Relane. You where such bright colors, Lady. Why?"  
  
"Because I can," she growled. The NERVE some men had.  
  
He grinned- she would have slapped him for that had he not started drinking right then- and glugged down half his drink. "You stand out. If you want to stand out, why do you wear a veil? Men like to see pretty faces."  
  
Nynaeve's back straightened. "You are talking to a Lady. LA-DY," she said, nearly bearing her teeth. Perhaps if she pronounced it slowly he'd get the point. "You have no right whatsoever to-"  
  
"Is there a problem?" Lan had appeared at Nynaeve's side, and Kyvan swallowed visibly.   
  
The Aes Sedai stood and gave her husband a quick hug, whispering something in his ear. He nodded, then, with a glare for Kyvan, walked back upstairs. She sat down again, a satisfied expression settling on her hidden face.  
  
"Who was that?"  
  
"Who do you think it was, child? My brother? I should teach you some manners...."  
  
"Are you sure it wasn't your Warder?" Nynaeve felt surprise bubble up inside her, but she schooled her face into sheer anger. That wasn't hard, seeing as she felt more anger than surprise. The bond's string to Lan flowed with concern, love, and, strangely, fear. Fear for what? Losing his Aes Sedai? No....  
  
"Only Aes Sedai have Warders," the Yellow sister announced, as though lecturing a child. It wasn't a lie. "And if I was Aes Sedai, I could not lie to you anyway, so here it is. He is my husband."  
  
"Only Aes Sedai would hide their faces," he retaliated. Nynaeve stood in pure rage.   
  
"Go. Now. Aurick could always take care of you."  
  
Kyvan didn't even stand, let alone go in the direction her finger pointed. "You are Aes Sedai, aren't you? First, you hide your face. Second, you have a man who looks as ready to kill as to sit in front of a fire on a cold winter day ready at your summoning. Third, you call me 'child' when you, according to the amount of face I can see, are hardly older than myself. And, of course, there is the fact you said 'call me Relane' not 'my name is Relane', which shows you are not using your real name. And you never denied that you ARE Aes Sedai, or that... Aurick, was it?... that Aurick is your Warder."  
  
Nynaeve had an urge to show him just how much more he had missed. Hanging him upside down on a wall with Flows of Air, for example. Or maybe tickling his feet with Flows of Fire. Maybe dump that water on his head. Or she could use Flows of-   
  
"Excuse me, Lady Relane?" came Cyra's voice. Nynaeve realized that she had been staring so hard at the man across the table, she had not seen the girl approach.  
  
"What is it, girl?" she demanded.  
  
"I was... wondering if you wanted more wine."  
  
The Healer looked at her with an confused expression before she realized that spilled all her wine on the table. "No, thankyou." As Cyra shrugged, curtsied, and walked away, Nynaeve turned her attention back to Kyvan. Channeling Air so he could not move or talk, she said, "Now you listen to me, Kyvan. I am Aes Sedai. Happy? I know why you are here. I am going to release your legs in a moment, and you will follow me, understood? Remember, I have means of stopping you should you run." He nodded as well as he good, fear lighting his eyes.  
  
She stood, letting the flows around the man's legs disappear, and started walking upstairs to Lan's and her room. She did not need to look back to know he was following. When she entered the room, Lan looked up from sharpening his sword. Through the bond came amusement at the look on Kyvon's face. *The look on Kyvon's face grabbed him and threw him onto the floor, so the man had to pick himself up.  
  
"Sit," Nynaeve commanded harshly. Kyvan sat. "You are going to tell me everything you know about Katra. And why you were sent to find me. Now."  
  
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End of Chapter 4. I know it is a bit shorter than the last couple chapters, but it was a good chapter, if I do say so myself. PLEASE REVIEW! Chapter 5 might take a while, but not as long as Chapter 3 took. Sorry bout that. Once again, sorry for any spelling/grammer mistakes. I don't have spellcheck in the program I use to type this fic. REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW PLEASE!!!!!! ~Rhana Sedai 


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5! Wow. I dunno how much longer it will be, but if it is getting nowhere tell me, k? PLEASE REVIEW! I need to know what you think....  
  
Disclaimer: Let's be boring today. I don't own Wheel of Time.  
  
A NEW QUEST: Chapter 5  
  
Levendra paused in front of an inn. This would be the third one she had searched. She sighed heavily, wondering why in the Light Lady Lisandre would send her to look for and undercover Aes Sedai. Kyvan should have already searched this one- called the Blue Sky Inn- but she had not seen the man yet. With another sigh, she pushed the door open.  
  
Looking around, she spotted the innkeeper, standing a short distance away, chatting with a girl in a pale green silk dress. Her dress matched the color of her eyes, and her long yellow hair was in a braid. Levendra scowled. The man was talking to guests rather than taking care of new arrivals? She stomped towards him. The girl with a braid looked up and smiled in her direction, causing the man to glance over his shoulder.  
  
"Ah, forgive me, Mistress Senaara. I have some business to attend to.... Yes, Mistress?"  
  
"The Light's blessing," his new guest muttered grumpily. After he had returned the favor, she continued, "Have you seen a Lady recently, with a... bodyguard, one might say, and two apprentices?"  
  
The girl- Senaara, Levendra thought- frowned, and the innkeeper muttered, "Ah, no, good Mistress." For some reason, he was fingering a coin nervously. With narrowed eyes, Levendra noticed it was Tar Valon marked.   
  
"Who gave you that coin, Master....?"  
  
He looked down at his hand, then stuffed the coin into his pocket. "A guest. Ah, she travels, she claims, and was recently in Tar Valon."  
  
"I see. Well, I would like some wine, but just a small glass." Senaara turned, but Levendra called, "Senaara!" The girl stopped and looked over her shoulder with a shocked look.   
  
"How do you know my name?" She demanded. Levendra smiled to herself.   
  
"Nevermind. Have a seat, girl. Let's talk." Senaara considered, then sat with her back to the stairs. Levendra sat opposite of her, watching the stairs quietly. "What brings you to this part of Cairhien?"  
  
"Why should I tell you?"   
  
"You've got real nerve. You should tell me because I am looking for an Ae- wait. Why should I tell you?"  
  
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Senaara grinned. Ta'veren could work to her advantage. But why was this woman looking for an Aes Sedai? Especially one that fit Nynaeve's description when it came to Warder and apprentices. "What is your name?" And why in the Light did the woman keep looking at the steps to the upper floor?!  
  
"Levendra." Her face contorted for a brief moment. She hadn't meant to say that either, the Accepted presumed. "How is training at the Combined Towers?"  
  
Instantly on guard, the younger woman shifted a little. "Combined Towers? I have never been there, let alone trained there."  
  
Levendra nodded. Peering over Senaara's shoulders, the woman straightened suddenly and leaned over a little. Senaara turned in her chair to see Nynaeve descending down the stairwell with grace fit for a queen. Her veil covered her face as always, but her eyes glinted with a dangerous light. Her apprentice nearly groaned. /Why now, Nynaeve?/ she cried silently. When the Aes Sedai spotted Senaara, she walked carefully to the table. Taking a seat, she nodded to Senaara, then stared hard at Levendra.  
  
"Yes?" she asked as thought Levendra was the one who had interrupted them.  
  
"My Lady," Levendra said uncertainly, not noticing the servant who brought her the wine she had ordered. Nynaeve, however, took the cup from a gaping young man who quickly bowed and retreated to the kitchen. Raising the cup in a the hand with that odd piece of jewelry on it- the one that had a bracelet connected to four rings by chains- she took a sip, then set the cup down again.  
  
"Are you after that young man, Kyvan?" From the look on Levendra's face, Nynaeve had hit the nail on the spot. "He is upstairs, talking to my husband. Well, are you going to stop gaping like a child in a candy store and say something any time soon?"  
  
Quickly shutting her mouth, Levendra murmured what sounded like and apology. "Kyvan is here? Upstairs? Why?"  
  
"Because I am who you are looking for," Nynaeve replied simply. Senaara watched with interest as Nynaeve wove Air around the third woman, who, apparently, was still in shock. "Come on." She stood and left, walking toward the stairs, leaving Levendra no choice but to follow. She had barely disappeared around the corner at the top of the stairs when another person entered the inn.   
  
He took one glance at Levendra, paled, and started to leave. With a sigh, Senaara stopped him with Flows of Air. Walking to his side, she asked quietly, "Are you looking for an Aes Sedai, too?" He nodded a little. She shook her head and lead him up the stairs. Ta'veren.  
  
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By the time the sun had set, six out of the ten Aes Sedai hunters had found their way to the Blue Sky Inn. Kyvan, Levendra, Vachil, Traheren, Gisellae, and Hulill. The remaining four, they claimed, were searching other parts of the city. Mayodin watched over them with an ever-present scowl. Senaara and her bloody Ta'verenness. At the sound of footsteps, he turned to see a very tired Senaara rubbing her eyes and leading the third woman to join the group of captives.  
  
"Want to trade jobs for a while?" he offered. She shook her head, yawned, and let go of the weaves. Mayodin put new Flows of saidin around the woman, sitting her next to Gisellae.   
  
With a slight grin, Senaara muttered, "See you in five minutes with the next." She chuckled a little and went back downstairs. He watched her go, then took a pen and piece of partchment. "Name?" he asked the new arrival, letting her gag dissapate.  
  
"Why should I tell you?" she spat. Mayodin sighed. She was not the first to demand that of him, and would probably not be the last.   
  
He took her head in his hands and glared at her. "Give me your bloody name, or you are going to regret it." She scowled.  
  
"No."  
  
With a sigh, he turned her upside down, pinning her dress to her legs. He had no desire to see her legs.... "Tell me your name." She had a very frightened look on her face, and there was a tear in her eye.  
  
"Cinari," she sobbed.  
  
"That's better." Settling her back on her chair, he wrote her name down. "Give me all the information you know about Katra, who sent you, and the death of King Munro."  
  
A look of defiance crossed her face, but disappeared as sudden as it had come. Defeat replaced it. "Katra is Aes Sedai. She doesn't know I know. Lady Nyssa sent me. She follows Katra. Um, I am supposed to find the Aes Sedai who is asking about Oplan and Dekina."   
  
Mayodin nodded impatiently. He had heard it all before. He groaned as he heard footsteps again. "Really, Senaara, do you-" He cut off as Cyra appeared with his dinner. He sighed thankfully, took the tray with a word of thanks, and started eating. Looking at the gaping Cinari, he shut her mouth again with Air.  
  
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Lisandre watched as Oplan smacked Nyssa hard. "Where are they?" Oplan shrieked. Lisandre, kneeling with her head slightly raised to watch, was the defintion of pure white. Felmanes was absent for this meeting, but only because he was seeing an audience. Nyssa had told Oplan that she   
  
Picking the one time Andoran woman up, the one-time Keeper threw her hard against the wall with the Power. Nyssa collapsed on the floor, barely alive. Lisandre pressed her face further to the floor. "And you!" Oplan turned her attention to the bowing woman on the floor. Picking her up, she held her helpless in the air. Lisandre was sobbing, but she never struggled. "Where are your men?"  
  
Lisandre resisted the urge to add "and women" to Oplan's sentence. "Lisandre is not sure, Lady. Please, Lady, be merciful. Lisandre does not know!"  
  
Well. If the woman was going to refer to herself like that, so was Oplan. A cruel smile crossed her face. "Lisandre. My new pet." Lowering the woman to the floor, she stroked her light brown hair. "I can find a nice collar for you. Lisandre will refer to herself in third person. She will ask to do anything and will be rewarded when she does well. And punished when she doesn't. She will be thankful for even the smallest reward."  
  
Lisandre was not a fool. "Yes, Mistress. Lisandre will be a good pet." She bit her tongue as she said the words, but what other choice did she have?  
  
Oplan's smile grew as she took her "new pet's" hair down from the elegant knot it was in. "Good girl. Why doesn't little Lissy stay here for a while while her Mistress finds her a collar? Don't leave this spot."  
  
Giving the woman a pat on the head, Oplan left the room. Throwing herself to the ground, Lisandre sobbed into her arm. Oh, Light! This was tortue, and she couldn't do a thing to help herself. Nyssa groaned a little from the corner of the room, and her friend had to fight the urge to help her. She could not move from the spot she lay on. She hated what had happened to herself, but her fear of Oplan's wrath was much stronger.  
  
When Oplan returned, she had two things. A collar and leash for Lisandre- that reminded the young woman of something she had read in history, something about 'damane' thats happened before the Second Beaking when Lisandre was only a few years old- and a long, slim rod with numbers written in some ancient language engraved on the side. "Kneel," Oplan commanded. Lisandre knelt. "Lissy can put her collar on herself." Lisandre gulped, took the thin metal chain. It would have been bad enough with only a simple band, but the collar was actually a chain, like someone would put on a dog! Opening the latch on the side, she snapped it around her neck. Next, "Lissy" was to hold the rod in her hand and repeat what Oplan told her.  
  
"This is called an Oath Rod, Lissy. Here is what you are to say. I, Lisandre, swear under the Light to obey my Mistress Oplan until this Oath is removed."  
  
"I, Lisandre, swear under the Light to obey my Mistress Oplan until this Oath is removed," Lisandre repeated in dipair. She felt something settle around her, as though a net were tightening around her whole body.  
  
"Good Lissy. Now, give me the rod."  
  
Lisandre's hand moved without a thought, and Oplan took the rod, throwing it onto her bed. "This collar and leash, I must admit, was not my idea. I remembered the Seanchan the other day, and was just thinking how much I would have liked a damane. This isn't an a'dam, though, since you can't channel, but this will do for now. However, another idea I like from the Seanchan. A new name for my new pet will be nice. And a new appearance. From now on, you will be called Dassi. Dassi will no longer refer to herself as Lisandre. Dassi is a good damane." [A/N: "damane" in the Old Tongue is simply "Leashed One", so it can be used for anyone who is leashed, not just channeling women]  
  
Dassi watched Oplan snap the bracelet to her wrist on her knees. Her owner- Dassi supressed a cringe, but that was what Oplan was now- then called to a person who had remained outside the door to come in. The man held many things, including scissors, plain white dresses, shoes, and something the damane could not make out. He came in, bowed like all people did to Oplan, head to floor, then asked, "What does my Lady wish?"  
  
"Dassi wants a haircut, right Dassi?" the Aes Sedai cooed.  
  
"Yes, Mistress. Dassi wants a haircut."  
  
"That's a good girl. Master Marsden, make her hair... shoulder length. Shorter. Make sure all can see the collar around her neck to remind them not to fail me like Dassi did." Oplan glanced a Nyssa, still crumpled in a corner, and sighed. Unclasping the bracelet, she set it on the ground next to the barbar. "Then do Nyssa's. She will be a good damane, as well. Her name will be... Perie." She walked to the woman's side, clasped her head, and, being a Yellow, Healed Nyssa.  
  
"Nyssa. Look at your friend, Dassi." Dassi muffled a sob as she saw Nyssa's eyes widen at the sight of her, kneeling in a collar and getting her hair cut. "Dassi is my new damane, right Dassi?"  
  
"Yes, Mistress. Dassi is a damane. Dassi wants to please her mistress," Dassi heard herself say. "Nyssa should, too."  
  
The other woman nearly fainted. Five minutes later, she had taken the same oath as her fellow damane, was in a collar and leash, had a haircut, and was wearing what Dassi was wearing. A simple, white cotton dress with white slippers. And the thing Dassi could not identify earlier- a silver chain around her middle. Perie was in shock.  
  
Oplan snapped the two bracelets around her wrists. "Come along. Dassi, Perie, you are not to remove your collars in any circumstance. When I am not around, you will not move the bracelet a hairswidth away from where I left it, or you will know true pain. Understand? Good, let's go. Stand up."  
  
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Senaara yawned. Eight down. The sun's first tendrils of light were peeking over the horizon, and she had not slept all night. Nynaeve and Lan had gone out looking for the remaining two, while the Accepted were to stay and see if they showed up. If the Aes Sedai and Warder did not return by noon, Mayodin and Senaara were to leave Cairhien immediatley, to go back to the Towers. She sighed grumpily, looking through the window, staring at nothing. No one else was awake save Mayodin and the eight captives.  
  
Putting her head down on the table, she listened for the creak of the front door. The Blue Sky Inn was so quiet at this time..... The only sound was soon the gentle breathing of a sleeping girl.  
  
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Mayodin yawned. Two left. Glancing out his window, he saw the sun striving to reach further into the sky. He had not slept all night. Watching over the eight spies from "Katra" was not hard, and he had nearly dozed off twice. All the captives but Traheren and the latest addition, Ruderick, had fallen asleep. The last two awake were reading as well they could with only free hands. He scowled. That was all the freedom he allowed any of them. Hands.  
  
Putting his head down on the desk Master Fron had brought up to him, he listened for the creak of the stairs. The Blue Sky Inn was so quiet at this time.... The only sound soon was the gentle breathing of a sleeping boy.  
  
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//Senaara stared at Mayodin. Mayodin stared at Senaara. All around them was endless colors, and there was no floor. "Where are we?" Senaara asked. Her high-pitched voice echoed off unseen walls, surprising the pair even more. Their clothes flickered from outfit to outfit.  
  
"I don't know.... Am I dreaming?"  
  
"I thought I was...."   
  
"Hello, you two. Nynaeve told me all about you. What brings you to Tel'aran'rhiod?" An Aes Sedai with a long braid of dark brown hair stood in their misdts. It was hard to tell how old she was, but it was obvious she was still young. Her ageless face had not lost all of its youth. HER outfit didn't change; it stayed in a green silk dress with yellow embroidery. It was dipped a bit at the neck, but it was decent.  
  
"You know Nynaeve Sedai? Tel'aran'rhiod? Forgive me, Aes Sedai, but... who are you? I didn't know anyone was a Dreamer these days," Senaara stammered. The Aes Sedai smiled, and in her hand appeared the Amyrlin's staff, and the stole settled around her green-clothed shoulders.  
  
"You would better know me like this. Egwene Trakand. And you are Senaara and you are Mayodin."  
  
For a moment, the Accepted stood, mouths open, eyes wide. Finally, Mayodin gave a sickly grin and said, "I, um, thought you were dead, Mother."  
  
Egwene laughed. A sad look filled her large eyes when the laughter faded, and her smile reflected the same emotion. "I am dead, Mayodin. Don't call me Mother, I am no longer Amyrlin Seat." The stole and staff disappeared. "I am everyone I ever was," she murmured, staring at something neither Mayodin or Senaara could see. With a slight shiver, she turned back to Nynaeve's apprentices. "How did you get into the World of Dreams today?"  
  
Senaara frowned thoughtfully before replying, "I am not sure, ma'am. I just fell asleep, and woke up here. I think that is the same for Mayodin?" Her friend nodded.  
  
The former Amyrlin licked her lips, then announced, "I'm going to another place. Are you coming? Hmm, you don't know how to travel in the Unseen World, I suppose. Join your hands with mine, that's it. Don't be surprised...."  
  
And just like that they were no longer in the floating space of nothingness. Adjusting her skirts, Egwene sat on a chair. "Wh..where are we?" Senaara gasped.   
  
The room was tall and large, ending with huge double doors. The window's were stained glass, but that meant nothing in Tel'aran'rhiod with its ever present light. "Elayne's palace in Andor. Nice, huh? This is where I spend most of my time, when I am not visiting with Rand, Aviendha, or someone else."  
  
The Accepted gasped. "You... you mean Rand al'Thor, the Dragon Reborn? And... Aviendha? Aviendha, the Heroine of the Ages?" Mayodin managed.  
  
Egwene smiled. "Yes," she said simply. "Bound to the Wheel. We all are, whether we want to be or not."  
  
A man appeared, and Egwene flickered into another person. "Lews Therin, you will frighten them," the woman who was Egwene said.   
  
"LEWS THERIN?!" Senaara exclaimed. The man turned his dark gaze to her, then flickered, like Egwene had, into a tall man with red hair and blue eyes.  
  
Egwene was back. "That is better. Honestly, you should take more care."  
  
"Blessings of the Light," the man told the Accepted; Senaara looked about ready to faint. "Who are they?"   
  
"Senaara and Mayodin. Nynaeve's apprentices, remember?" He nodded. "Senaara, Mayodin, this is Rand. Or Lews Therin...."  
  
Senaara idid/i faint then, barely caught by Mayodin who stumbled a little under the sudden weight. Rand laughed a little, and Egwene clucked her tongue disapprovingly. "I have that affect on people sometimes. Especially people who make it to Tel'aran'rhiod on accident," the Dragon Reborn told Mayodin.  
  
Carefully taking Senaara's head, Rand Healed the slightest bit, causing Senaara to jerk and open her eyes. Mayodin took his arms from her waist as soon as she had gotten her footing back. She looked slightly amused at that, but before he could read anything else from her face, she turned to Rand. Bobbing a small curtsy, she said, "Thank you."  
  
He gave a short laugh, told her it was no problem, then turned to Egwene. "We have a problem." He glanced back at the Accepted.  
  
"It's OK," Egwene said, sensing his suspicion. "They won't tell anyone anything."  
  
"Well.... Something happened, and four people were pulled into Tel'aran'rhiod just a few minutes ago." He glanced at the Accepted again, this time with sudden recognition. "One was a woman, whom I met, and the other three are somewhere else. I have a feeling we found two of them. The woman I met tried to kill me. I think she did not recognize me; I was... not in this body, let's say, at the time. I have seen her before, actually, stalking around the Unseen World like a cat." The he added "Nasty things, cats" and looked surprised he had said something.  
  
"Senaara, Mayodin, you need to leave. Now. Go!" Egwene shooed them.  
  
With a wry tone, Mayodin said, "We don't know how to leave, Lady."  
  
"Oh," the woman said quietly. "Just... will yourself away, I guess. Kind of difficult to explain." Senaara tried, and tried hard, but she could not get back to her body. "You can't do it, can you?" They shook their heads. Tapping her foot, she muttered to herself, "I wonder.... If they were sucked in," she told Rand, "by that woman, can they only leave when she does?"  
  
Rand frowned. "Could be. I've never heard of it before, but you never know." Egwene nodded in agreement. Suddenly, a bloodcurdling shreak sliced the air. Egwene and Rand were instantly on their feet, Egwene glowing with the One Power. Senaara, too, reached into the Source, looking around. A sword appeared in Rand's hand, then one at Mayodin's feet. "Pick it up, boy! This can't be good," Rand told Mayodin, who, with wide eyes picked the sword up.  
  
"It's... perfect...." tha Accepted murmured in awe. "Perfect balance, perfect weight."  
  
Egwene cried out, "Over here!" No one had noticed her leaving; in fact, they all could have sworn she had been standing next to Rand a moment ago. Then Rand, too, disappeared. Senaara glanced at Mayodin in surprise, then shrugged and ran in the direction she thought Egwene's voice had come from. Finally, after a couple of seconds of searching, the pair found the man called Lews Therin and Egwene standing over... something. Egwene's dress had gone black as night, though, strangely, cut lower and tighter.  
  
"What... is that?" Senaara asked faintly. It was beyond hiddeous. Long tendrils of greenish clear flesh stretched out from a blob of a body with four eyes positioned at odd angles from a mouth. Hundreds fangs stuck out of an immensley big mouth. What made the women pale and the men grimace was the pool of sickening greenish red blood spreading around the monster.  
  
"It won't go away," Egwene groaned. "It is really here, not just someone's nightmare. I think we found our fourth lifeform sucked into Tel'aran'rhiod, Lews Therin. If only Gawyn were here."  
  
"I know what it is," Lews Therin sad gruffly, his dark eyes blazing. "It is called an ienos/i. It was around before the Breaking, Egwene, that's why you don't recognize it." She nodded curtly before he continued. "It is Shadowspawn, obviously, created by Aginor. The first one ever made, but only three were made. My friends... the Hundred Companions, you know them as, and I hunted them down. But if this one is here.... I don't know what it means. Who killed it, though?"  
  
Mayodin spoke up suddenly. "Before you Broke the World a second time, Lord Dragon, the darkfriends had a plan. Don't ask how I know. Anyway w-they were going to bring back A... Aginor's creations; afterall, he was back. They were going to kill... um... you? As Rand.... Yes, well.... They got him to bring back the gholam, as you must remember, and a few oth-"   
  
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Sitting up with a jerk, Senaara opened her eyes drowzily. Stretching wide, she yawned and thought about what had just happened. With a muffled cry she raced up the stairs to Mayodin. He, too, had woken, and was coming down the stairs, causing a head on collision with Senaara  
  
"Woah!" he cried, catching her before she fell down the steps. "I'm sorry! Are you all right?" He hung onto her until she had regained her balance- and a little after- watching her with a concerened look on his face.  
  
"Yeah, I'm fine," she replied, lingering in his strong arm for a moment before backing down a step. Her head felt a little light, but she couldn't guess why. Another early-waker was coming down the stairs, muttering under his breath about "young people these days."   
  
"Did you.... I mean, were...." Mayodin trailed off uncertainly.  
  
"Was I really there?" she finished for him. "Yes, and I suppose you were, too.... Wow. We really met Egwene Trakand! Let's get breakfast." She turned and walked down the stairs, Mayodin close on her heels. It wasn't hard to find an empty table to sit at since only three other people occupied the room.  
  
Mayodin sat opposite of the other Accepted. He still wore the same blue jacket he had worn the other day, and Senaara had not yet changed from her green silk fit for a Lady. Waving down a serving maid he had not seen before, they placed orders and waited quietly. Finally, Mayodin broke the silence. "I wonder... I wonder what that enos was doing in Tel'aran'rhiod."  
  
"Hmm." Senaara frowned thoughtfully. "I don't know, but if it is in the Unseen World, when will it be in the seen world?"  
  
The same maid who they had ordered from soon came back with their breakfast. With a word of thanks, the two set about to pick at their porridge and ham. The weight of Senaara's words was enough to make anyone feel down. Forcing a spoonful down, the Accepted sighed and looked into her bowl glumly.  
  
"How much longer until Nynaeve Sedai and Lan Gaidin come back?" Mayodin asked. Senaara looked for a clock, and upon seeing none, leaned over the table a little to see the sun. "Well, I could have done that," he muttered as he leaned back.  
  
"If they return exactly at noon," Senaara said with a sigh, "it will be about six hours." She settled herself back in her seat, shoveling another spoonful of the not so bad porridge into her mouth. After a moment of eating in silence again, Mayodin groaned, looking over the other Accpeted's shoulder. "What is it?"  
  
"Another of those blo... those Aes Sedai hunters it looks like," he grumbled. She moaned, then turned slightly to see.   
  
"Blood ta'veren." Mayodin stared. He had never heard her use ANY kind of profane language. She stood and walked to where the man stood, though not without another sigh.  
  
He blinked in surprise at the sudden approach. "Yes, um, Lady?"  
  
Senaara refrained from smiling. Lady? "I was wondering. Have you seen Hulill recently?"  
  
He gave a surprised jerk. "Hulill? Uh, no, uh, Lady. Has he been here recently? Did he tell you anything?"  
  
"Only that you might come here eventually. Are you Rawson?"  
  
"Wh...why, yes.... How.... Did he tell- hey! Who are you?!"  
  
The Flows were already pinning his arms to his side, and she told him quietly, "I would suggest not making me pick you up. We don't want to cause trouble." He nodded a little, being unable to talk around the gag. She nodded to Mayodin, who sighed and stood. Leading the new arrival up the steep staircase, they entered the room where eight other catchers sat. Rawson nearly passed out.   
  
"Name," Mayodin demanded.  
  
*"Elvis Presley."  
  
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HAHAHAHA, I like that line. CHAPTER 5 ENDS! Whew... to my loyal reviewers ^.~, answer this question if you wouldn't mind..... ¿What do you want to happen between Senaara and Mayodin? NOTE: I DON'T DO LEMONS! PG-13 and lower would be nice. Answer them as a couple or as single people heads, I don't care. REVEIW PLEASE!!!!! I will go even more insane than I already am (that would be a trick) if you don't review!!! ~Rhana 


	6. Chapter 6

*Yawn* it's kinda late..... Thanks to all my reveiwers for your ideas! Aw, well, here it is. Chapter Bloody 6.  
  
Disclaimer: Just about the only thing I own is a little box under a bridge and the phrase that I write on almost all my math papers "Insanity SHOULD reign, instead boredom does". In other words WoT=not mine. Hmm, that could almost rhyme..........  
  
A NEW QUEST: Chapter 6  
  
Mayodin stared at the slim girl talking to the captives. What was he going to do about her? She wedged her toe into a crack he did not know existed inside of him and, ever so slowly, worked the crack into a gaping hole. But what was it? Could he, Mayodin, actually be falling in love? Before the Second Breaking, he would have said such a thing did not exist. And now, as he sat here watching her work quickly, he was convinced suddenly that all the times he murdered had not been right. Light! How many times had he murdered innocent people like this ta'veren of a girl because the Gre- the DARK ONE ordered him to do so?  
  
Senaara glanced over her shoulder, as though she could feel his eyes on her, smiled, brushed some hair out of her face, and turned back to the woman she was Healing. Levendra, the woman Senaara was kneeling next to, spat at the Accepted as she tried to Heal her. Mayodin had the urge to go slap some sense into that woman, but he satisfied himself with a nasty look in her direction. Senaara patiently negotiated with her, and finally took her head and Healed her. Time had taken a tole on everyone present, and they needed to be kept fresh in case of... well, anything.  
  
Sighing, the girl walked back to the desk Mayodin sat at. Her yellow, fine wool dress had divided skirts; Nynaeve, having come back only an hour ago, had told her two apprentices to be ready to leave at any time. The heavy purple sacks were gone from Senaara's clear green eyes now, having been Healed herself by the Aes Sedai. "Hi," she muttered with a slight grin.  
  
He laughed a little. "Hi," he said with a grin. "You sound- and look- excited.  
  
Rolling her eyes, she sat on the desk sideways, carefully moving the papers away so she would not get ink on her dress. The deep blue embroidery, which was so thin that it looked black at a distance, stood out plainly to Mayodin as she studied the room. The ten captives were all bound with saidin, so she could not see them, obviously, but she watched them as though their bonds were plain as rope. "I'm glad Nynaeve and Lan caught the last one. I would not have been comfortable with these people walking around freely."  
  
"Speaking of Nynaeve," Mayodin whispered as the Aes Sedai of subject swept into the room like a queen. Lan stayed at the door, keeping as good a watch as ever.   
  
The Yellow sister shed her veil, throwing it to the now standing Senaara, who caught it and set it on the desk. "Block their ears, Mayodin." He gritted his teeth- he HATED orders- but did as she said with a bow of his head. When he nodded to her, she continued, "I am going to take them to the Towers. Lan is, of course, going with me. If you want to stay, you can. In fact, I would prefer you did. We will only be gone the rest of today. Mayodin, come with me for a moment...." She turned into the hallway, without looking to see if he would follow, of course, and waited, impatiently tapping her foot.  
  
Mayodin rose slowly, exchanging confused looks with Senaara. She shrugged, a blank expression settling itself back on her face as she turned back to watching the people in the room. Walking past Lan, he found his teacher waiting in the hallway. She smiled. "Take some time off. Maybe Senaara would like a trip out? You never can tell," she said innocently. Mayodin closed his mouth. She was trying to get him to take Senaara out? Light! She glided past him without another word, sparing a smile for her Warder.  
  
He walked back in after her, and a gateway had already been made. He stopped, suddenly wondering why the captives hadn't moved, when he noticed everyone staring at him. "Oh, yeah." Releasing them all from their bonds of saidin, he felt a tingle in his arms as someone, most likely Nynaeve, channeled. The captives' hands stuck to their sides again.  
  
"Come on. Lan, you go first." He did so without a word, stepping through the gateway and looking in all directions. Nynaeve directed the Aes Sedai hunters out one by one, then followed them out with a last word to the Accepted. "We shan't be gone too long. Think on my words, Mayodin." Tha gateway winked out as soon as the last word was said.  
  
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"What did she say?" Senaara asked curiously, still standing. She wanted to know; Mayodin had had a surprised look on his face when he had come back into the room. They hadn't said anything to her yet about Tel'aran'rhiod, but could she have found out somehow?  
  
He shook his head. "Nothing." Then he said something that completely shocked her. "Do you want to go for a ride tonight? While Lan and Nynaeve are gone?"  
  
She blinked her eyes a couple times, then smiled faintly. "I'd love to, Mayodin. I'm sure Sophie needs some air, anyway." He didn't say anything for a moment, just watched her with a considering look on his face. He smiled. Oh, Light, he smiled. And for the first time since she had met him, she saw something about him that was worth beyond liking. His smile filled the room and his eyes held some... new light she had never seen in them before. For the first time, she saw a man who could fufill her needs. He walked out of the room without saying a word, and she sat down. Hard.  
  
Letting out a breath she did not know she had been holding, she gaped at where he had stood. That really had just happened, hadn't it? It wasn't her imagination. She closed her eyes for a moment, and when she opened them, she was laughing softly. For the joy of it. Things were good like this.  
  
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Nynaeve glanced over her shoudler at Lan, who smiled encouragingly. The ten "guests" she had brought with her all stood awkwardly to one side of the room, their ears blocked with saidar, where she was meeting with other Aes Sedai, all Yellows. She, of course, sat at their head, and as she turned her head back towards the other eight sisters, they straightened visibly. "Oplan," she continued from where she had left off, "is disguised as Katra. I have taken this even more personnally since she is of our Ajah." Several sisters nodded, others shook their heads in disgust. "Any ideas on what to do with... that trader?"  
  
A sister named Kimyko, who had once been a runaway, stood. All of her six feet was perfect Aes Sedai now, and one in a pure rage. "We should expose who she is to the public in New Cairhien. They will not want her as their queen then." Once again, a few of the sisters nodded.  
  
Nynaeve waved a hand at that suggestion. "No, she has used Compulsion from what I have heard from these ten. We could get ourselves in more trouble by announcing ourselves." Kimyko tilted her head to the side, then nodded and sat down again.  
  
"Maybe," a sister named Geyeniall bagan, standing up, "we should work swiftly behind her back, yes? Bring her down from inside her palace. Send in a spy. Who would work?"  
  
No one, not Nynaeve, not a single sister, argued with little Geyeniall's idea. It was ideal. But who? Nynaeve's mind raced. Senaara? No; two problems: she could channel and would be detected, and she could not put the girl in danger. Gripping her braid, she leaned back in her high-backed chair. Then an idea hit her. "Why not one of these?" she asked, gesturing at the ten captives. "We could plant one of them back into the palace."  
  
Murmurs arose in the small room. Finally, Kimyko inquired, "But can they be trusted?" That closed everyone's mouths in a hurry. Every woman's head swung back to Nynaeve, eyes drilling into her.  
  
"We can see to it that they are. Which one would be best?" They studied the ten assorted men and wmona, finally deciding that Levendra would be best. Nynaeve undid the Flows around the tall woman's ears, then hands, and finally legs. "Don't even think of running," Nynaeve told the other woman as she looked for a door. "You have been specailly selected by the nine of us to be our spy."   
  
Her face paled. "No," she gasped. "You don't know what she will do to me! You can't! It is... inhumane!"  
  
"And the things you would have had done to me had I been caught?" Nynaeve spat back. "Would you call those things humane? No, child, you chose the wrong person to mess with. You will be our spy, and you will report to me, Lan, Senaara, or Mayodin every night. Fabia, will you have... have someone bring the Oath Rod. It is the only way to ensure her loyalty." Levendra watched with fearful eyes as one of the eight sitting sisters stood, slightly curtsied, then left the room quickly.  
  
"No," she rasped again. Nynaeve stood with fury raging in her mind. Lan's face was as emotionless as ever, but the Yellow sister could feel caution flood through it as soon as she stood. Weaving the Mirror of Mists, she appeared to loom over the woman with an extra five feet (which she greatly needed to have any significant hieght on Levendra, who was a little taller than average).  
  
"You should not use such a powerful word as 'no' around Aes Sedai, girl, unless they want to hear it. We prefer the answer we are looking for, hmm?" Geyeniall embraced the Source, and, altering her appearance as well, stalked over to stand next to Nynaeve, appearing only slightly shorter. Behind Nynaeve, the Tarabonner Aes Sedai was the second most powerful in the Yellow Ajah.  
  
"You, child, will do as we ask, no?" she narrowed her eyes and gave Levendra an evil glare until the woman sagged and nodded regretfully. The light of saidar winked out of the two sisters, and they adjusted their shawls.   
  
After a short pause:  
  
"What do I have to do?" the one time Aes Sedai hunter asked weakly, suppressing a sigh as best she could.  
  
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Nynaeve sighed. It had been an emotionally draining day. Wearily, she opened a gateway from her room in the Towers back to her room in the Blue Sky Inn. After settling things with Levendra- it came to using the Oath Rod- she had taken the other nine hunters in front of the Hall where they were prosecuted. While she had been gone, the first male Aes Sedai had been raised. A brother, Nynaeve thought with a sardonic smile. Falling onto her bed and closing the gateway, she muttered to Lan, "That has got to be one of the worst days of my life."  
  
Lan smiled, shook out his cloak, though it did not need it, and replied while hanging the color-shifting thing on a post, "Well, it would be. I guess I won't be wearing this again for a while."  
  
The Aes Sedai shook her head with her eyes closed. The pillow felt GOOD. Her braid fell to one side of her body as she turned onto her stomach. "Mmfh, mmhm mfmhn hmm mmhf."  
  
"What?"  
  
Turning over again, Nynaeve frowned and said, "I said, I thought Senaara would have felt me channel. She would have come in by now, don't you think?"  
  
Lan grinned. "Looks like he took your advice, then." No need to say who "he" was, for who else would Senaara be out with? "Maybe I'll take your advice, too. What do you say we go out tomorrow?"  
  
Nynaeve closed her eyes again, pulling her braid out. "That sounds very good." Her hand stopped in the middle of the braid, and she opened her eyes suddenly. "Someone channeled," she groaned. "Why now?"  
  
Lan was immediatley at the door, holding it open for the hurriedly veiling Aes Sedai who then lead them out into the hallway. *"I'm a Red Wings fan, didya know?" she muttered.  
  
"Who are the Red Wings?"  
  
"Nevermind. Who could have channeled? Senaara? Oplan.... Mmm...." she trailed off uncertainly.  
  
Upon reaching the bottom of the stairwell, Nynaeve dimmed saidar inside of her, a lesson she learned from Moghedien. In the common room was the normal crowd of people, a few drunkards, and.... Who was that? She had an ageless face, though she was not Oplan, nor was she Dekina. Suddenly, with great shock, Nynaeve noticed the signal of the Yellow Ajah (which will remain silent for now because only the Yellow Ajah know of). Hiding her flows, she poked around the other Aes Sedai, looking for a deceptive covering of saidar. Nothing. Lan's wife shrugged to him, then walked towards the other sister.   
  
Looking around the room, she detatched her veil. The other sister's eyes widened at the sight of the fabled Nynaeve al'Meara- no one knew of her marriage, yet- walking towards her.   
  
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Well, there ya have it. Good, bad, in between? Just to let u kno, im gonna also upload a fic that I co-wrote with Dovienya Sedai of the Green Ajah soon, too. I am also going to be writing a very hard WoT quiz for those readers who love a challenge. Here's a preview:   
1. What is the largest circle of channelers (male and female) you can make a circle of?   
2. Why is the "Therin" in Lews Therin Telamon significant during the Age of Legends?  
  
I got the ideas for these questiona from a book called "The World of Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time" by Robert Jordan himself. THESE ARE TRUE FACTS!! Check that fic out when it is up; I will also post the answers as a second chapter. That one will be up around the end of May at the latest. REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 


	7. Chapter 7

WELL! I took me a while to write this one: SORRY! I'm trying to keep up! HERE WE GO!!!! Pretend with me that words in UPPERCASE are italics, kk? For some reason the html formatting won't work..... O.o; Ah, well. ON WITH THE FIC!  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own WoT. I wonder how disclaimers started anyway... @.@  
  
A NEW QUEST: CHAPTER 7  
  
Senaara yawned as she reined Sophie in. It had been an eventful evening, and she was TIRED. Mayodin rode Dusk into the stable behind her, and the two dismounted, putting the two horses into the appropriate stalls. Senaara asked a stableboy to rub the horses down, then turned to Mayodin, who offered his arm. She smiled and took it, letting him escort her to the common room of the inn.   
  
Upon entering the inn, the Accepted knew something was wrong. They glanced at eachother, then to a corner where, who else, Nynaeve sat. She was hunched over the table, talking to another woman, so only her long braid and back were visible. Lan stood in the corner's shadows, arms crossed and eyes swiveling this way and that as he kept a lookout.   
  
"Who is that?" Senaara asked quietly, watching the woman across from her teacher with sharp green eyes.  
  
Mayodin frowned and answered, "I don't know. I think we oughtn't interrupt, though; you can almost taste the tension coming from that corner." A slight shake of Lan's head as he caught Senaara's eye was all that was needed to second Mayodin's opinion.  
  
"Let's get drinks." She walked to the main counter, ordering a small glass of chilled wine. Mayodin got water and sat next to her. After a moment, Lan joined them; neither Accepted had seen od heard him approach.   
  
"Who is that, L- Master Aurick?" Mayodin asked, catching himself.  
  
"An Aes Sedai from the Towers. I am not sure of her name, but she did not come here to talk to Nynaeve. Things aren't good back in Tar Valon. Never has an Amyrlin been deposed for these charges and there is a huge dispute over who is to be the Amyrlin. Many are pushing for Latren Aes Sedai, but not everyone is keen on having another Green on the Seat this soon. The other candidate is Alexey Aes Sedai, a Blue."  
  
"Oh," said Senaara. "Is that all?"  
  
The Warder shrugged. "Other than the fact that fourteen more men have been raised to Accepted, one more to Aes Sedai." Mayodin's eyebrows climbed. Fast. Senaara sat back and whistled quietly.  
  
"Why the sudden push? Do you know?" Mayodin asked breathlessly.  
  
Lan grinned. "I know everything. No, I don't know why. It could be that there are many good men training, who knows?"  
  
Mayodin nodded, but Senaara stared. Had Lan just made a JOKE? LAN?! Light, Nynaeve must have had a major effect on him! Come to think of it, she doubted she had ever seen the warrior SMILE before, save for Nynaeve.   
  
Lan groaned a little, glancing back at his wife, who was shaking visibly. Something major must have been coming across the bond, because he nodded to the Accepted and made his way across the room to Nynaeve's side. Taking a sip of her wine, Senaara pondered on what might have happened to so abviously upset the Aes Sedai. She looked at the wine with half closed eyes.  
  
"What's the matter?" Mayodin asked worriedly.  
  
"Tastes funny," she said thickly, taking another sip. Her tongue felt... swollen. Saidar was as hard to reach as a boat on the horizen was. "So... tired...." She felt something hit her head, but was only somewhat aware of it. Then everything went blank as she dimly heard a loud clatter of chairs and fighting break out.  
  
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Nynaeve cursed, and then cursed some more. Forkroot. And the girl was gone! Lan, Mayodin, Dastagira (the other Yellow sister) and herself had not been able to hold back the five men who had rushed and grabbed Senaara's helpless body. Mayodin was in a state of shock. The innkeeper was worse, frantically running all over and apologizing. He wasn't helping much, the Light burn him!  
  
Nynaeve's hand was clamped firmly over her braid, and this time she would NOT let go, no matter who asked. Forkroot. The Light burn me, too, she berated herself, I should have known something would happen! I should have KNOWN!   
  
She felt a hand on her shoulder and heard Lan say softly, "You should not blame yourself." The Light burn HIM also, because he ALWAYS knows what I'm thinking! continued her inner self grumpily.  
  
Her apprentice who was still in the inn sat staring at the door dumbly. She removed Lan's hand, heard him sigh, but did not care, and stalked over to him. She took his shoulder, turning him to look at her. His black eyes were harder than usual- which, Nynaeve realized with a start, was not too much anymore.   
  
"You know there is nothing else you could have done."   
  
No response.  
  
"Mayodin," sighed the Yellow sister as she sat in a chair facing him, "she is going to be alright. You aren't helping anything by sitting here. Why don't you go upstairs and pack? We are leaving the inn now. We can work this out tomorrow."  
  
"Tomorrow?" he cried. "They could be anywhere by tomorrow! They could be all the way to the Aeil Was- oh." Nynaeve was waving her Great Serpent ring under his nose.   
  
"I can Travel, remember? Tracking won't be any better now than it will be tomorrow, and trust me, Lan and I know how to track. Go pack." He nodded and stood, walking to the stairs deep in thought.  
  
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When the ta'veren next awoke, she was sore all over. Her stomach was being bounced up and down and, if she had not been so numb, she would have vomitted. Everything was black, black, black. Black was such an ugly color. Dully, she realized her hands were bound together, but she was to groggy to do anything but twist her wrists a fraction of a centemeter.   
  
Saidar. Where was saidar? Oh, Light, was it gone? Gone forever? She began to sob, which was hard because she could barely feel anything. Breathing was hard; wherever she was was very stuffy, as if no fresh air had been allowed in. Oh, saidar.....  
  
Something outside shifted and Senaara was thrown heavily to the ground. Then there was light, too much of it. When at last she could open her eyes enough to see anything, she could only make out a foot. Her hands and feet were still bound, and she could barely move. She was beginning to become more aware of everything around her.  
  
She was shoved roughly to her knees, and her head was held up so she could see better. The person who held her head pulled it upward and forced her body to follow. A blurry, ageless face came into veiw. Remembrance skated across the Accepted's mind, but nothing came to mind immediatley. Moving her eyes to the left, she saw a woman with a chain and leash around her neck on her knees next to the dark skinned woman who she could not quite remember. Looking to the right, she saw another woman, in the same contraption of chain and leash.  
  
"You fools! This is not an Aes Sedai!" came a voice from high above. Staring upward, she frowned at the half familiar face again. "She can channel, though. Hmm, interesting. Dismissed!" The hand that held her head up moved away, and she sunk onto her knees with her head down. Straining her muscles, she looked up. If she thinks I can channel, Senaara thought joyfully, that means saidar is not gone!  
  
"Wh... who are y-you?" she stammered, trying to talk around a tongue that felt three times too big.  
  
The woman with the ageless face smiled. "You are from the Towers, are you not?" Senaara nodded a very small nod. "Then you would know me as Oplan. These are my damane, Dassi and Perie. Who are you with?"  
  
"The Lady Relane," she answered automatically. She was still staring at the- what had they been called? damane? yes, that sounded right- at the damane.   
  
"Is this Relane Aes Sedai?"  
  
"No," replied the Accepted. Good thing she hadn't sworn the Three Oaths.  
  
"Don't lie to me, child. Who is the Aes Sedai you are with?"  
  
"I am not with an Ae-" she was cut off as an unseen blow hit her across the cheek. She was then picked up by what she assumed was saidar. Oplan advanced toward her, dragging Dassi and Perie after her.  
  
"I said not to lie," she murmured. "Who is the Aes Sedai you are traveling with? You would not be allowed outside the Towers without an escort of at least one Aes Sedai. Tell the truth."  
  
Senaara sobbed and stared at Oplan's hard face. "The truth. I won't tell." She gasped as she was thrown across the room like a rag doll. She hit the wall and slid to the floor, collapsing into a heap- which was painful due to the fact that her feet and arms could only move so far-, only to be picked up again. Floating helplessly towards her captor, she took deep breaths and went over her novice excersizes. They didn't help much.  
  
"You fool," laughed Oplan. "You Light blinded fool. It would save you much time to tell me. And much, much pain. I just so happen, my good girl, to have an a'dam. Do you know what an a'dam is?"  
  
"No."  
  
"It is a collar that prevents you from doing anything but what I want you to." Senaara's eyes widened against her will, causing Oplan to laugh coldly. "Now, tell me who you are with or the a'dam goes on."  
  
"OK," Senaara sobbed, hanging limply in the air. "All... right.... I'm with Wela Sedai."  
  
"Wela? What Ajah? I have never heard of her. Tell the truth."  
  
"Brown Ajah, ma'am. Brown Ajah. She was raised after you... left the Towers."  
  
"I see." Click. The a'dam closed around Senaara's neck.  
  
She was set down on the ground and released from all her bonds. Her hands flew to her neck, hatred shining in her eyes. "Liar! You said you- aaaaah!" She convulsed on the ground, shuttering as her still numb muscles seared with pain. She reached out and attempted to pull the collar off, only to be tortured more painfully. Finally she gave in, letting out a throat-wrenching scream of pure agony. The damane watched her sadly, one- Dassi, maybe- turned her head away.   
  
When at last the pain stopped, Oplan hauled her onto her knees, pleasure shining in her light brown eyes. "It feels good to have a real damane. These two are fakes, you might say. Now, my new damane, what shall I name you?"  
  
"N-n-name m-me?"  
  
"Yes. I will call you Sena. Sena is a good name." Senaara tried not to let it show that she was greatful her name was so close to her real name. If any emotion showed, Oplan either did not see it or did not care. "Now, Sena. You will tell me what you know of Wela. She will probably be a good damane, too. Yes, I would like a Aes Sedai damane; Aes Sedai have ruined my life. Sena?"  
  
"Wela Sed-d-dai is Brown Ajah. She is... is staying with her friends at the Blue Sky Inn." Senaara fervently hoped that Nynaeve, Lan, and, most importantly, Mayodin had not stayed in the Blue Sky Inn. "That is all I know. I went with her," she added at the dangerous glint in her mistress's eyes, "to learn how to overcome my block, which I have done."  
  
The one time Keeper watched her with narrow eyes for a moment, then nodded. "The three of you will stay here and wait for me to return. You will not move your or eachother's bracelet from the hook I put it on. Understand?" When she got three nods, she stroked each damane's hair, frowning at the length of Senaara's, then took the bracelets off and put them on the same hook which was on the far side of the wall.  
  
As she turned to leave, she added, "And, Sena. Take out that ridiculous braid." Senaara barely heard her add, "It reminds me of that fool Nynaeve."  
  
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Mayodin stared ahead, emotionless on the outside. On the inside, he was a mess. Life without Senaara seemed so... dull. Why under the Light did he feel like half of him was dead without her? Her smile had just lit the room up, and she smiled so often. He sighed softly. Her smile seemed to light his SOUL up. If only, if only. [A/N: Is it just me, or is there a poem somewhere that starts "If only, if only, said the cat to the moon"?!?!?!]   
  
Lan came back into the inn they had found to stay in- called the Broken Trumpet of all things. "I found some tracks, and they lead straight to the palace. Dekina or Oplan, probably. Oplan is my bet. We haven't heard much about Dekina lately; I wonder why not." Nynaeve nodded wearily from her chair at the table.  
  
He sat down beside her, leaning forward intently. "Go to sleep," he murmured to her. "You've had a busy day. We'll find her in the morning. Come on," he urged, lifting her gently to her feet. Her veil, which she had donned for their journey from the Blue Sky Inn, covered the majority of her face as usual, but Mayodin thought he could see a tear on her cheek. Did she care about Senaara as he did? She gave Mayodin a quick hug, then turned and leaned on Lan, who led her up the stairs,  
  
Strangley, her hug was not rejected by her apprentice. In fact, it was one of the first times he had ever been hugged in his life. His childhood.... He shuddered and blocked out the bad memories as he always had. He walked slowly up the stairs and sat on his bed. Taking off one shoe at a time, he thought over ways he could find Senaara again. Tel'aran'rhiod.   
  
The Unseen World was a new idea to him, but it could work. He had no idea how to enter it, but he would try with all his heart and soul. No, he would try FOR his heart and soul: Senaara.  
  
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Senaara sat, miserable. Mayodin.... Oh, Light, she moaned to herself, will I never see you again? Will I have to stay here forever and wonder what you are doing, if you are safe? If you found someone else?   
  
He had been her secret life since meeting him, and she realized now that she loved him. She had loved before, but that was different; that was puppy love. Mayodin was real. He was the only thing that mattered now. How could she meet him again? How? Tel'aran'rhiod.  
  
The Unseen World was a new idea to her, but it could work. She had no idea how to enter it, but she would try with all his heart and soul. No, she would try FOR her heart and soul: Mayodin.  
  
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Egwene looked up in surprise from writing a letter to Elayne- she had a collection of letters to everyone, especially Gawyn- as boots echoed through the hallways outside her room in the reflection of the Towers that she had adopted. She stepped outside to see the back of a tall man in dark blue turn a corner. "Hello?" she called, aware of the danger. She saw a head poke around the corner and realized suddenly that she KNEW him. It was Mayodin, Nynaeve's lad.  
  
"Egwene," he said uncertainly. "Have you seen Senaara?" His voice echoed in a lonely way off the walls.  
  
"No," she replied, frowning. "Why?"  
  
He sighed, then looked at his feet. "She's missing. I was hoping she might have... stumbled into Tel'aran'rhiod or something."  
  
"Oh."  
  
"MAYODIN!" A girl's voice shouted without a body. A corner was rounded and then the voice became a tall girl (though shorter than Mayodin; he was like Rand- VERY tall) with blonde hair. She ran toward him and fell into his open arms with a laugh and a sob. "I knew you'd be here for some reason. I just knew it." She burried her face into his chest as her stroked her hair gently.  
  
Egwene coughed into her hand, causing the two to look over at her, then at eachother. Senaara blushed and quickly stepped back from Mayodin, who stepped back from her as fast. "No, no. I didn't mean to interrupt," the former Amyrlin said with a grin, waving her hand. Her comment seemed to embarass the two even further. "Er, do you guys want to come into my room and have a chat since you probably won't be able to for a while?"  
  
Senaara nodded gratefully, a guarded look passing over her eyes. Mayodin glanced at her worriedly, then nodded as well. They followed her to her room, where Egwene conjured up two chairs and footstools. She herself sat on the bed while her guests sat in the chairs.  
  
"What happened to you?" Mayodin asked Senaara  
  
Her eyes hardened. "Oplan happened. She is a FREAK. She has this thing called an a'dam that sh-"  
  
"A WHAT?!" Egwene was standing so fast that it seemed she had skipped the stage of actually standing up. Her dress flickered to gray and something silver snaked downward from her neck, but that image lasted for a split second. Her usually beautiful features were obscured by hatred. "An a'dam?"  
  
"Y-yes," Senaara stammered. Tears shone in her eyes. "So you have been damane, too?"  
  
Egwene nodded, shivering uncontrollably. "Light! I thought the last damane died with the Seanchan."  
  
"Maybe she did, but the last a'dam didn't."  
  
"If that.... that goat-kissing, Light blasted... woman ever- ever!- steps foot inside the Unseen World, she will regret it." Tha light in the room seemed to dim and Egwene to grow, darkness shrouding her. Finally, she came to herself and returned to normal. "Sorry...."  
  
Senaara said, "Tell Nynaeve to never- never, the Light bless her- set foot near the Blue Sky Inn again. For my sake and hers."  
  
"How do you mean?" Mayodin asked curiously.  
  
Senaara shuddered. "I lied to her. Oh, Light! If she finds out, I will be dead or worse in short order. I told her about the Blue Sky Inn, but said that I was with the Aes Sedai named Wela, who does not exist. If Nynaeve goes to the Blue Sky Inn, she, too, will be captured. My name is Sena to Oplan. She has two other damane, though they can't channel. She calls them Dassi and Perie, though what their real names are is beyond me."  
  
Egwene sat down again, slowly. "Meet me here again tomorrow, both of you? If you can, that is. Meet me until you are reunited in the... real world. OK?"  
  
The two nodded, and Egwene disappeared. The Accepted looked at each other, than away with slightly pinker cheeks. Finally, Senaara had had enough. "I can't live like this," she murmured.  
  
"Live like what?" asked Mayodin quietly.  
  
"Without knowing. Without.... without...." she broke off, sobbing again. "Of only it weren't all a dream."  
  
"It won't be, some day. Without knowing what? Without what?"  
  
She stared at him piercingly. "What can't you live without, Mayodin?"  
  
He thought for a minute, returning her stare. He couldn't live without food or water, but.... "You."  
  
"Good." She stood up and walked towards him, then plunked herself onto his lap. "You were supposed to say that," she muttered with a little laugh.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Why?" he asked, uncertain of just about everything that had just happened. With her so close his insides seemed to melt and he couldn't think straight.  
  
"Because that would have been my answer, silly." She looked up into his eyes, green meeting black. "Don't be a woolhead," she said with a grin. "Kiss me."  
  
His jaw dropped but his heart didn't. No indeed. His brain was working ferociously but before it could register anything his heart took over and willed him to do as she bade. That was when all thought stopped and she was all that mattered. Holding her close to him, he let her sob into his shoulder, gently rocking her back and forth.   
  
"I hate Oplan," she cried. "I hate her. When will you come for me? When can you help me?"  
  
"I don't know where to look for you," he replied.   
  
She leaned back to peer up at him, and her puffy, red eyes turned normal again. "I'll tell you tomorrow if I can. I don't know when I have to go, but it has to be soon. I... I love you. Don't forget."  
  
He nodded, his own eyes tearing up. "I won't. And don't you forget that I love you, too. Light! You have changed me thoroughly, you know that? I used to be the cruelest person alive, and now.... Now I am going to cry in front of a girl," he finished with a chuckle.  
  
She grinned and leaned against him again. And just like that she disappeared. Mayodin sighed and willed himself back to his real body.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Waking up slowly, Senaara flexed her muscles which were no longer numb. Her hands moved first, pulling her long blonde hair out of her eyes and putting it into a loose ponytail. Dassi sat beside her with a worried expression on her face. "Mmm. Hi. What's wrong?"  
  
"You fell asleep and would not wake up. Luckily the Mistress has not come back yet. You were crying sometimes, laughing other times, and sometimes you were very still. Must have been a wierd dream."  
  
"It was," Senaara said with a nod. "An overall good one, though."  
  
"I see. What is your real name? Not Sena," she added as an after thought.  
  
"Senaara," the other damane replied. "I'm glad she didn't name me something too far from my real name. What is yours? Not Dassi, surely."  
  
"No," answered Dassi. "My name was once Lisandre, but I can not refer to myself as anything but Dassi. Perie was once Nyssa."  
  
"But... you are Ladies! She can't do this to us! It isn't right!"  
  
Perie came closer to them when she heard Senaara's outraged cries. "No, it isn't right. Not much we can do about it. I wonder why Katra is such a foul person?"  
  
"You mean you don't know?!" cried Nynaeve's apprentice. When the other two gave her an odd look, she said, "That is not "Lady Katra". That is Oplan, you know, the former Keeper of the Chronicles for the Towers?"  
  
"You're joking!"   
  
"No! She was deposed just a couple weeks ago, along with Dekina. They were discovered to have poisoned Egwene Trakand, the late Amyrlin Seat. She is a darkfriend, no doubt. But... if Oplan is here, where is Dekina?"  
  
Perie glanced at the door, which was a good twenty feet away from where she sat. Senaara looked around the room for the first time, seeing a couple chairs, a table, and an empty fireplace. No need for fire wood this time of the year, especailly in New Cairhien. The tiles were green and red checkered, the colors of the Royal House in Cairhien. "I have heard," said the small woman slowly, "that the Mistress is known for murder. Could it be... she murdered Dekina?"  
  
Senaara licked her lips nervously. She would not put murder past someone like Oplan, but it was not a subject she liked to dwell on. Oh, Light! Where is Mayodin?  
  
"Who?" asked Dassi. Senaara blinked in surprise, then realized she had spoken aloud. The two damane were peering at her curiously from their plain white hoods.  
  
"Mayodin. He's... a friend...." She could tell be their faces that hers was bright red. Which only made it redder, to her dismay. "Well... fine. A little more than a friend...."  
  
The woman who had once been Lisandre sighed with a small smile. "You are still so young, Senaara. If only your Mayodin knew where you are. Maybe he could help all three of us."  
  
"But he DOES know where I am!"   
  
"What? How?"  
  
/Oh boy/, Senaara berated herself silently. /My big mouth/. "Well... you know how... I wouldn't wake up?" When Dassi nodded, she continued, "Um. There is this place called Tel'aran'rhiod, the World of Dreams. Only... the dreams are real. We can both go into Tel'aran'rhiod, and we met eachother back at the Towers. I told him what had happened, so he and... and, um, Lady Relane and her husband, yes... They can probably help us somehow. And if I could only get this bloody collar off I could help us!"   
  
The other two damane glanced at eachother, Perie finally asking, "So, er, Senaara. Can... Mayodin? Yes? Can he channel?"  
  
She nodded with a grin at the look they gave her. "You know that the Dragon Reborn took the taint off saidin. It isn't dangerous for a man to channel anymore." She thumbed the collar of the a'dam thoughtfully, feeling for any kind of catch or link in the smooth metal. Nothing.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Mayodin woke with a sigh. She had been so real. Nynaeve's face suddenly came into view. "You're awake!"   
  
"What do you mean, I'm awake?" he replied grumplily.  
  
"You've been out cold for the last hour or so. Nothing would wake you up. Are you all right?"  
  
He sat up and looked around the room quietly. It was plain as ever, with only his trunk of clothes in one corner. Nynaeve sat in a chair next to his bed. Lan was no where to be seen. "I know where she is," he told her.  
  
She narrowed her dark eyes, giving him an odd look. "How do you mean?"  
  
"Tel'aran'rhiod. I met her at the Towers. It was... funny, in a way."  
  
"The World of Dreams," Nynaeve breathed. "Why didn't I think of that? What did you learn? Is she safe?"  
  
"She's fine. Obviously at the palace, which we knew already. She is... not bad, I guess. She said something about an a'dam and damane, but I am not sure what she meant."  
  
"An a'dam?! But... those don't exist anymore!"  
  
Mayodin shrugged. "I guess they do. That was Egwene Sedai's reaction to Senaara's news. She got really mad, too. Senaara said something like "you've been damane, too?" I don't know what she means," he repeated.  
  
Nynaeve scowled. "That... bloody...... The Light burn you, Oplan. How could you leash HER?" Her eyes were distant, as though her thoughts dwelt on something far away and long past.  
  
"Leashed?" asked Mayodin with alarm. "Leashed?! Like a dog?!"  
  
"Yes," Nynaeve said, her face in her hands. "But worse than a dog. An a'dam keeps the damane from channeling unless her sul'dam allows her to. In fact, she can't do anything without her sul'dam allowing it. The damane feels everything that her sul'dam feels ten times over, so trying to hurt the leash holder without hurting the damane is impossible. A sul'dam can torture her damane with only a thought, and it doesn't take long to break even the hardest of spirits into being a pet. Oh, Light. What are we going to do?"  
  
"I told her I would be back at the Towers this time tomorrow. She said she would try to figure out everything about the palace that she could to make it easier to get in. Is there any chance the One Power can help us?" he asked hopefully.  
  
"Maybe. Maybe. Thanks to Moghedien it just might."  
  
"Moghedien?! But... she was Ch- Forsaken! How could she help US?" /I am NOT one of them any more,/ he told himself bitterly.  
  
Nynaeve grimaced, thinking that after everything she had just said about damane and sul'dam it would probably not be a good idea to tell him she had once been sul'dam. Even if it was to one of the lowest creatures on the planet. "She... helped Elayne, Egwene, and me once. It is a very long story, please don't ask. She taught us many things, including how to sheild the ability to channel. We did not share that trick with anyone at the Tower- it was not "Towers" back then, mind- so Oplan will not know about it. In two days, since we have to wait until tomorrow to find out where she is."  
  
Mayodin sighed. "Two days," he agreed.  
  
"So. You went into Tel'aran'rhiod? Have you done that before?"  
  
He shook his head. "Not when I had a choice. There was one time when Senaara and I were pulled in, but we didn't know why."  
  
"That's odd," Nynaeve said, no expression on her face or in her voice. Light but he hated Aes Sedai calmness.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Back in the Cairhien Palace, Senaara heard the door creak open and stopped talking to the other damane immediatley. She had gotten much information out of them already; they were eager to help at the chance to be free of Oplan. The woman herself stepped through the door and smiled at them. "Have my pets become friends? Good," she cooed.  
  
Dassi and Perie knelt with their heads to the floor upon the entrance of the sul'dam, so Senaara copied them. Better not to upset her if she could help it. Oplan cackled. "Good, Sena. You are learning. That is good. Well, my pets, today we are going to take a tour of the palace so Sena can learn her way around. We don't want to stumble and make me mad, do we, Sena?"  
  
"No, Mistress," Senaara said through grated teeth, keeping low to the ground. She was given a white robe like the one the other damane wore to put on, which was difficult because of the leash leading to the hook on the wall. She then was told to put on the silver chain of a belt that Oplan had brought. It wrapped around her waist with about a foot hanging down on the right side. */Stylish,/ thought Senaara. /WHAT AM I THINKING?! This is... so unfair. I am not a dog./  
  
The bracelet was snapped around Oplan's wrist, along with Dassi's and Perie's. "Come along, my damane. We are going to have fun."  
  
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Whew, that one was long. I spent the whole day on my feet serving dinner for people at my church, so if the end sucks, you know why. Do you like? Yes, no, maybe so, with a cherry on top? O.o; Dunno where that came from. OOOOOK.... *Thinks to self: it would be a very good idea to go to bed about now, Rhana....* REVIEW, PLEASE! Read my other fics, too! BYE!!!!!! POWER TO THE REDWINGS! COLORADO IS GOING DOWN!!!! STANLEY CUP IS DETROIT'S!!!!! 


	8. Chapter 8

Weeeellllll..... Chapter 8. Am I getting long winded? This series will probably end around chapter ten or so. It is coming to a close slowly but surely. SCHOOL IS OUT! NO MORE STINKING SCHOOL! *cackles more than insanely* NO MORE 7th GRADE! I AM NOW IN 8TH GRADE! WOOOOHOOOO!!!!.... *cough* anyway. Here we go!  
  
Disclaimer: WoT+Robert Jordan= not mine. Easy equation, unlike the quadradic one. Spelling on quadradic? Aw, well, anyhoo....  
  
[A/N: In this chapter, I won't have a *statement*, if you understand what I mean. It will also be a shorter chapter. I dunno; it just seems fitting this time around.]  
  
A NEW QUEST: Chapter 8  
  
Nynaeve waited anxiously by her student's bed. He was in the sleeping trance of Tel'aran'rhiod, and hadn't waken for an hour and a half. She had one hand on her long, dark brown braid and the other in her belt pouch, fingering a twisted ring. A ter'angreal, it would send anyone into the World of Dreams so long as they were asleep and it touched their flesh somewhere. Two hours, Mayodin had told her before falling asleep, then the Aes Sedai could join her two students in the Towers' reflection.   
  
"Nynaeve?" said a man's voice from the doorway. Lan stood, lounging casually yet dangerously against the frame of the door. The bond had announced his approach, along with the emotions that were almost always there when he was around his wife and bondholder: alertness and love. "Are you going to come out of there anytime soon? Dinner is getting cold. You have fifteen minutes before you should join them."  
  
She sighed and pulled her hand out of her pouch, standing to join her Warder in the doorway. "I'm just worried. Fifteen minutes?" He nodded. "I wish it were only five."  
  
"You know you can't go back on your word. Two hours, remember? A promise is a promise, especially for an Aes Sedai. Let's eat."  
  
She sighed again and followed him down the staircase to the common room of the inn. "Oh, right," she muttered and pulled a veil across her face from nose down. No good to let people know she was Aes Sedai here since most people would either runaway or come after her with a sword. It would probably get Senaara and herself into a lot more trouble than they were already in. On a table in a corner, where they always ate, were two dishes of food- stew with mixed vegtables and a baked potato. She sat across from Lan and began to eat hurriedly.   
  
"What's the rush?" her husband asked as she wolfed down a bite of potato. He took a slow bite- rather pointedly, too- of stew and stared across the table with a calm, pale blue gaze.  
  
After swallowing, Nynaeve spoke. "I want to be on time."  
  
"And if your five minutes late, so what?" He grinned at her suddenly blank, cool stare. "Moiraine tried that one on me too often. Besides, I know your frustrated and anxious."  
  
/That CURSED bond,/ she muttered darkly to herself. She scowled and stuffed another forkfull of stew into her mouth without a word. Ten minutes later, she walked back upstairs to her bed. It was now 9:55 or so, and 10:00 was the agreed meeting time. Rushing, she changed into a shift, brushed her teeth and hair, then climbed into bed. As she lay down, she rebraided her hair thoughtlessly, throwing it over her back once finished. The clock chimed ten. She was vaguely aware of Lan entering the room, but sleep overtook her before she could tell him anything.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Upon falling asleep, the Yellow sister had entered the Unseen World thoughtlessly. Checking her clothes absently, she grimaced. They were what was once Ebou Dari style, with the outer layer of skirts hitched up to reveal layers of petticoats. With a scowl, she changed them to Andoran, if rather low cut, with her yellow-fringed shawl hanging over the blue silk. Closing her eyes, she pictured herself in Egwene's "adopted" room in the Combined Towers where she presently found herself.  
  
"Nynaeve!" she heard someone familiar say behind her. She turned in time to see a green-clad blur throw itself upon her. She hugged the girl back, then told her to stand back.  
  
"Well. I'm glad to see you're alive. Hello, Mayodin. You say Oplan has an a'dam?" she demanded, returning her attentions to Senaara, who, the Aes Sedai noted grimly, was taller than herself even in the World of Dreams.   
  
Senaara's face darkened a little, and she sat down in a chair with a sigh. "Yes. It is... awful. Nothing else can describe it. Torture, maybe."  
  
"Yes, I know. I have been there. Well, almost. But... close enough. It is a very long story- one that may not be a pleasant reaccountment for me. Anyway, what can you tell us about the palace?"  
  
Before Senaara had a chance to speak, however, Mayodin pointed out, "We, ah, could just, you know, go there." Two blank, Aes Sedai stares met him, one ageless, one not, then Senaara grinned.  
  
"Of course. Why didn't I think of that?" She chuckled a little, then said, "I'll meet you at the Blue Sky Inn, since you don't know your way around the palace." She disappeared.   
  
"She is as good as Egwene, the Light help me," muttered Nynaeve, though no one heard; Mayodin was no where to be seen. A second later, all three of them were gathered in front of the named inn and began heading off, with the female Accepted in the lead. Soon they reached the palace steps, which Senaara led them up without hesitation.   
  
She opened the door WITH a thought, though she did not realize it until Mayodin pointed it out. "Oh. It seemed the natural thing to do, I mean, why open a door if it will open for you? Anyhow. This is the main chamber, where most the guests come for parties and stuff. The ballroom is over there, and the dining room for large audiences is here. And upstairs... ouch; stubbed my toe.... This is Oplan's chamber. Dassi, Perie, and I share this room here...." She trailed off, opening a door into a small room with three cots, three wash basins on a nightstand each, and four lanterns. One cot flickered out and in constantly; looking at it made Senaara sigh. "My bed. It hasn't been here long. Is that why it isn'y steady?"  
  
"Yes," Nynaeve said. "Who are Dassi and Perie?"  
  
Her apprentice's face contorted as she thought how to explain. Finally, she explained, "They are like me... damane, I mean, but... neither can channel. Hard to explain..... They were once Lisandre and Nyssa of New Cairhien, but somehow something happened to make Oplan mad, I suppose. They have new names. She calls me Sena, but she does not know my name."  
  
"Light," Mayodin muttered, rubbing his temples. Water flickered into one of the wash basins, but no other changes in their scenery was obvious until Senaara's little bed came back. "So we have to get you out of all this."  
  
"And Dassi and Perie. They helped me, so I should help them. One problem- she had them swear on an oathrod. I dunno what to do about that."  
  
"I'll figure something out," promised the Aes Sedai. "I'll be going then, unless you need something else?" When she had seen both of them shake their heads in answer, she nodded her goodbye to Mayodin- then gave Senaara a quick hug and disappeared.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Senaara ran her hands through her now unbraided hair as she stared at the spot her teacher had disappeared from. The next second her hair was back in its braid, and she checked her dress. Pleased that it had not changed save for a little lower neckline since Nynaeve left, she smiled and turned back to Mayodin. Her smile faded as she saw him sitting on the floor, head in hands, with his back to the wall. Black hair that had grown longer since their meeting spilled into his flawless eyes, but he took no note of it.  
  
"What's the matter?" she asked, concerned immediatley.   
  
Cold hatred battled with something Senaara could not identify in his eyes as he looked up, staring straight ahead. She knelt beside him, feeling his brow for a temperature. At her touch, he gave a start and closed his eyes. Something was very wrong. His muscles had stopped completely, save those necissary to pump blood and breathe.   
  
"Mayodin?"   
  
No answer.  
  
"Mayodin!"  
  
Still no reply.   
  
Suddenly his lips moved wordlessly. His hand raised and something far away, like an explosion, sounded. Eyes popping open, he stood as though in a trance and left the room. "What are you doing?" pleaded Senaara. "Come back! Wait! What is going ON?!" She ran after him without another thought. Grabbing his arm, she pulled, to no avail. He kept on walking, never sparing a glance for anything, nor slowling down. Walking, walking, walking.   
  
A door that had never been seen by Senaara during her short stay in the palace opened at another silent command from Mayodin- his friend guessed saidin was a work. A long, narrow staircase could be seen. The ghostly light of the World of Dreams did not reach this steeply descending passage.  
  
"NO!" shrieked Senaara as the man she loved began his deathly prowl down the steps awaiting him. Desperate, she reached for saidar.   
  
And found it blocked from her by an invisible sheet of glass. With a cry she threw herself at the black-clad Accepted who was slowly walking toward the pitch blackness of the unseen danger. "MAYODIN! STOOOOP!!!"   
  
Her arms collided with him, and she promptly wrapped them around his waist to keep herself from falling onto her face. She was dragged with the tall apprentice down the steps, knees hitting the next step with a thud every time, one carved, haunted stone by one. Her scream was heard only be herself as the darkness closed around her. A door closed somewhere, and all light was cut off; Senaara fainted. The only noises were the gentle tap-thud, tap-thud, of a boot and knee hitting a stone step.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Dassi shook the new girl's body. "Sena!" she groaned. "SENA!!! Wake up! Wake up wake up wake up!" The Accepted of the Combined Towers body was paler than usual, and a sickly black glow surrounded her. Perie stood beside Oplan's other damane, peering over her shoulder at the gray tinted girl. Sena's mouth had gone open for a long moment in a silent scream, then she went still.   
  
A sickening crunch was heard and Sena's eyes opened, another wordless scream that seemed to shake the ground tried to tear itself from the ta'veren's throat. "What was that? Is she awake?" The anxious question came from Perie's mouth before she could stop herself.  
  
"No, but her eyes opened. That sounded like bone breaking," replied Dassi, going pale. Sena's green eyes flutterd closed again, and her mouth closed with a soft snap. "How could anyone break a bone? She is asleep, and it isn't you or me."   
  
"Only one way to find out," Perie said grimly. She pulled the covers off Sena's pitiful, trembling body. The girl's knees were crushed. What was going on?!  
  
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In the inn, Lan woke with a start. Nynaeve sat bolt upright next to him. "What is it?" he whispered. Her eyes were scared as she leapt from the bed and a torch lit with no warning. Her robe floated towards her, and she pulled it on as she ran from the room.  
  
Mayodin lay on his bed with his back rigid, eyes open and staring straight ahead. A pale, sickly black glow surrounded his emotionless face.  
  
"Not. Good. The Light bless us, Lan, because we need it."  
  
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Weeeell, there ya have it. Juicy, hmm? ^.~ I wasn't even expecting that- so don't ask me. As I always say: /I/ don't write these things, my fingers do. If you were at all surprised at the outcome, know you are not alone. *Shakes head* my sanity was lost long ago- I don't know what will happen in the following chapter, yet, so please don't ask in your review. BTW, that reminds me. REVIEW!!! 


	9. Chapter 9

I AM SO SO SORRY I HAVE NOT UPDATED IM FOREVER!!! I have been gone for the last month on vacation, so I could not upload anything. Please forgive me and continue reading and REVIEWING!!!!  
  
BTW, GO REDWINGS!!! They won the Stanlet Cup AGAIN! *sticks out tongue* that's for the Hurricanes! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!  
  
Disclaimer: I own about .0000000000000000000000000000001% or less of the things in this world, WoT not being part of the percentage.  
  
A NEW QUEST: CHAPTER 9  
  
"AAAAAAAH!"  
  
Bone had crunched, and Senaara woke from her faint with a shocking amount of pain in her knees. Each time her knees hit the next step, the bone sent jolts of pain through her legs. The bone moved painfully around inside her skin, and she screamed again. Her grip around Mayodin's waist slipped as she wailed, but she closed her mouth and hung on grimly. Where ever this path from the Dark One was leading, she was going, too, and she knew she could not walk on her legs now. It was foolish, she knew, but she would not leave Tel'aran'rhiod until she knew what was going on. Besides, whatever force had shielded her from saidar probably would not let her back into the waking world.  
  
"Egwene," pleaded the girl, "please help! PLE-E-EASE!" Sobs broke into her desperate words, and she clung to Mayodin with new energy. She could not let go, not know. Thud. Pain, the pain! How unbearable! She could not think. Redness resonated inside her skull, the color her mind coordinated with pain. Nothing she ever felt could match this. Sheer, awful, excrutiating pain in her knees told her that they were only being mashed worse with each step Mayodin took.  
  
"Mayodin! STOOOOP!" she cried helplessly, but it was in vain. A thought crossed her mind- she could splint her knees, anything was possible in the Unseen World. Concentrate as she would, she could not change anything around her. But, she told herself, biting back a scream, if the light does not reach this place, why should other "rules" of Tel'aran'rhiod apply? Her last conscious thought was: Oh, Light, have mercy.....  
  
Blissful unconsciousness took over, making pain and thought irrelevent.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"No! No, no, NO!" A stream of curses followed from Nynaeve's mouth as she stood over her student. Mayodin did not look good at all. What was going on? He wouldn't wake up and the glow around his face was growing darker and darker with every second. She tried to use the Power, but nothing would touch the boy on the bed.  
  
She had already tried to wake him up, but her hand had nearly blistered from heat when she reached to touch his shoulder. No amount of noise would wake him, either. Lan was the only comforting presence. The bond she held told her he was concerned and patient, alert, and overall ready for anything.   
  
Nynaeve's eyes blurred with tears and she turned to Lan, who stood behind her patiently waiting. "Nothing I do can help him!" she wailed, thumping a fist on her husband's chest feebly. I think I have to go into Tel'aran'rhiod again. This is so not good...." She left the room as though in a daze. Lan, looking down at Mayodin's distorted features, was unsure whether it was wise for the Aes Sedai to do this, but said nothing and simply followed her from the room.  
  
"What if the same thing happens to you?" demanded Lan as Nynaeve sat and slipped on the ring.   
  
*She shrugged and said, "Who cares?" but then decided better and frowned.  
  
She looked at her bare feet and said quietly, "I have no idea. If anything does, my question is what will happen to you?" She looked back up, across the room at the Warder. Not even her brown eyes showed emotion, but the bond flooded fear, concern, and love.  
  
He did not meet her eyes. She sighed and whispered, "That's what I was afraid of. I love you, Lan. I WILL see you again. Whatever is going on will be put to rights."  
  
She lay down and, after some time, fell asleep. The ter'angreal did its work, and Tel'aran'rhiod came into focus quite suddenly.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Mayodin did not know what was going on. He was completely out of control of his body. Not once had his clothing flickered as his thoughts raced, which was unusual for him since he had almost no control normally in Tel'aran'rhiod. What was going on?  
  
At first, he had thought that this was completely normal- there was no problem, he did this every day. Didn't he? He had been down this stair case millions of times.   
  
Hadn't he?  
  
Then he felt a weight pressing against his back. When he tried to turn and look, his body would not move. When he tried to talk, his mouth would not move. He could not see anything, but he presumed this was due to no light being in the stairwell. Suddenly he knew that this was NOT normal, that he didn't do this every day. But he could not do anything, not a thing. He was trapped inside his own mind.   
  
He tried to scream. He tried to kick. He tried to move his hands to see what was hanging on to him.   
  
More thoughts came. Senaara. Where was she? What had happened to her? What had happened to HIM? Where was HE? Had she followed him into this unknown place? Was she trying to talk to him? Could he hear anything? Nynaeve, and Lan. Where were they? Would they come to help? He was still in Tel'aran'rhiod, wasn't he? Was Senaara?  
  
He strained his ears. Or at least he tried, but once again he found he had no physical control over his body. But if he concentrated on listening and listening only, he discovered he could hear a faint crushing noise that was heard everytime a sharper noise came. He presumed that the sharper noise was his boots clicking on the stone of the stairs. Then what was that other noise?   
  
This was utterly not good. Where was he going and what was he doing? More importantly, who, or what, was controling his body?  
  
A light appeared at the end of the stairs. He could barely see it; it was only a pinprick. With each step it grew larger and larger. He would have squinted into it if he could, but once again, he could not control it. /The Light burn whatever is doing this./ And still his feet took steps.  
  
Click- thud. Click- thud. Click- thud.   
  
He reckoned on another twenty steps until he entered the light. Click- thud. Click- thud.  
  
Ten. Click- thud. Click- thud. He was convinced that if these were normal circumstances his heart would be racing so fast he would have to sit down and wait it out. What was in the light? Click- thud. Click- thud.  
  
Two. One. His feet stepped down onto an empty platform and his body stopped. The light around them was limited to a circle with a radius of about twenty feet and all he could see through his ever looking forward eyes was bare gray stone. No one or thing sat in the space. Then, suddenly, he crumpled to the floor. The thing around his waist let go and he heard the whoosh of material as whatever it was fell to the floor. He wondered what was going on briefly, then realized he had control again.  
  
He pulled his hand out from underneath his body. It was searing with pain, and he found that it was slightly bent in an unnatural direction. /Blood and ashes! Broken! What in the name of the Light is going on?/ He turned to see what it was that had been holding onto him and making the curious thudding noise.  
  
A cry erupted from his throat as he saw a girl in green silk crumpled in a heap behind him, blood staining the front of her dress where her knees had broken. "Senaara! No, no, no! What is going on?" He pulled himself to her side and listened for a heart beat, then let out a sigh of relief. At least she was still alive. He then straightened her so she was laying with her head in his lap. Stroking her cheek gently, he began talking to her, trying to wake her up. "... and.... The Light burn me, Senaara, I'm sorry. I don't know what happened. I just don't know!"  
  
Tears rolled down his cheek and dripped onto hers. "The Light burn me," he whispered.  
  
"That can be arranged," said a familiar voice. His back stiffened, but as he turned, something hit his head and unconsciousness took over all thoughts.  
  
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End of Chapter 9. Chapter ten will either be the last chapter or second to last, and then eleven or twelve will be like an epilogue. PLEASE REVIEW. Once again, I AM SOO SORRY I HAVE NOT UPLOADED IN FOREVER!!!!!! I need to know that i still have readers- REVIEW PLLLLLEEEEEAAAAASE! 


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